Lawmaker Seeks High-Tech Help Along Border
House Homeland Security Border Subcommittee Chairman Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, is looking for some high-tech help to assist in monitoring his state's border with Mexico. He has asked the Department of Homeland Security to deploy a new unmanned aircraft along the border.
"The southwest border region, specifically from El Paso to Brownsville, Texas, would benefit greatly from a remote piloted aircraft," Cuellar wrote in a letter last week to Customs and Border Protection, which is part of DHS and in charge of border security programs. "In an effort to complement the work of our brave border patrol agents, such aircraft will enhance their capabilities and will also improve intelligence gathering to help ensure their safety." He said the technology would boost "our border security and help diminish international criminal organizations' activities, having a direct impact on border violence." The agency has operated three Predator B unmanned aerial systems along the Arizona-Mexico border since 2005.
Cuellar also asked the agency to consider the need for additional Predators along the northern border, where one currently operates. According to CBP, the Predators have flown more than 1,500 flight hours in support of border security missions and contributed to the seizure of more than 15,000 pounds of marijuana and the apprehension of more than 4,000 illegal aliens.
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