Drones Soon to Help Monitor US Border

[unhappycamper]

Drones Soon to Help Monitor US Border
May 15, 2010
El Paso Times

EL PASO -- An unarmed surveillance drone will soon be monitoring the borderland for criminals and illegal activity.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it authorized a drone to fly back and forth between Fort Huachuca, an Army installation near Sierra Vista, Ariz., and Big Bend National Park beginning June 1, said Vincent Perez, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas.

It is the first of two drones the Department of Homeland Security wants to assign to the Texas border region. The drone is certified to fly over the area starting June 1, but its missions might not begin until after that, pending operator training, Perez said.

It will provide an extra layer of protection for the U.S., he said.

"It adds another layer of security. You have your boots on the ground. You have your ports of entry. You have cameras. You have sensors. The drone is like another tool in the toolbox to provide security along the border," he said.



unhappycamper comment: I wonder how long it will take them to replace the Predator with something more 'useful'.

[pampango]

1. Does this make the "War on Illegal Immigration" official now? Nothing like a miltary solution to all

our problems. High tech to the rescue?

The "Secure the border" fear-mongers win the day - bigger wall, more troops, now drones. What next? "East German" solutions - land mines, "shoot first, ask questions later"?

If this is just a sop to tea baggers to show that we are "serious" about border control, I can grin and bear it, if it leads to comprehensive reform.

The alternative would be to point out that Border Patrol agents have doubled in the past few years, illegal entries have dropped by two-thirds, serious crime is down in Arizona and along the border and immigrants commit little of it anyway. But that is asking too much perhaps. Wouldn't want to stop the flow of saliva from the "Stop the invasion of illegals" crowd. What will the repubs do for a 2010 hot-button issue if they can't whip voters up about the "Mexican invasion"? :)