HOUSTON, Texas – As 1,500 troops head to the Southern border and President Donald Trump designates drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, KPRC 2 Investigates looks at the security risk of drone incursions along the U.S.-Mexico border.
KPRC 2 Investigates Robert Arnold rode with Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley sector, a 34,000-square-mile area with a 277-mile border with Mexico. During the ride, Agent Andres Garcia told us about the troubling trend of drones from Mexico entering U.S. airspace.
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“We’ve been seeing them more often, it’s something new, it’s a trend that they’ve been picking up and that’s something the agents need to be more aware of,” said Agent Garcia. “They go up on the Mexican side of the border, they come, they actually create an incursion into the American airspace. They’re always surveilling the area, they’re looking for us, they’re looking for new ways to get migrants across.”
In 2023, the Border Patrol Chief for the Rio Grande Valley sector told the House Oversight Committee there were 10,000 drone incursions and 25,000 drone sightings in her sector alone.
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“The adversaries have 17 times the number of drones, twice the amount of flight hours, and unlimited funding to grow their operations,” said U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gloria Chavez.
The Sector Chief in Tucson also informed the House Committee on Homeland Security that some drones have been used to fly drugs into the U.S., adding another layer of complexity for agents.
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In March 2024, the top general for US Northern Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee that drone incursions along the southern border likely exceed 1,000 a month.
President Trump has asked the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to assess conditions along the border and report back with their recommendations in 90 days.