The drone-maker General Atomics wants the government to add more drones to beef up security at the border, but some lawmakers fear it will lead to the border becoming more like a war zone.
"The defense industry is trying to ‘defense-ify’ the border — and treat it as a problem or a security threat that has a military-like solution,” Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, a member of the Armed Services Committee whose district sits across from Juarez, Mexico,
told Politico.
General Atomics, which is based in San Diego and makes the Predator drone as well as many others, already has several of its drones being used by the Defense Department. It is now aggressively pushing lawmakers to consider using more drones at the border, even though a recent report found that the drones that have already been deployed are not working as well as hoped.
The Homeland Security inspector general
issued a report in December 2014, in which it found that not only were the drones expensive but that it didn't help with as many arrests at the borders as was predicted.
There is now a fight in Congress over whether or not more unmanned aircraft is needed. Lawmakers like Beto say that the borders are plenty secure and Texas Republican Rep. Mike McCaul, who is also the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is promoting a measure that would create more "forward operating bases" at the border.
Despite the push by General Atomics, DHS questions the effectiveness of the drones and says it doesn't plan to acquire more.
While drone technology has not panned out they way people originally thought, the border agency chief R. Gil Kerlikowske said that it is valuable tool. But that he can't imagine the border agency buying more beyond replacing what it currently has.
However, Randolph Alles, assistant commissioner for the Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air and Marine, released a statement saying that unmanned aircraft "does a good job spotting incursion and contributing to contraband seizures. For instance, so far this year it is responsible for seizing $568.4 million worth of illegal contraband."
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