Free Republic

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is planning to cut 50 percent of the budget for aerial surveillance along the U.S.-Mexico border, agents revealed at a congressional hearing Thursday. In an effort to understand why DHS is cutting funding, Texas's Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, wrote a bi-partisan letter to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson. "Any decrease in aerial observation is not only imprudent, but contradicts the very mission of border security enforcement," the letter states. The lawmakers' letter also asks for detailed information about the reduction aerial-based border security, also known as Operation Phalanx. Abbott and...

Unmanned aerial vehicles have soared the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq for years, spotting enemy encampments, protecting military bases, and even launching missile attacks against suspected terrorists. Now UAVs may be landing in the United States. A House of Representatives panel on Wednesday heard testimony from police agencies that envision using UAVs for everything from border security to domestic surveillance high above American cities. Private companies also hope to use UAVs for tasks such as aerial photography and pipeline monitoring. "We need additional technology to supplement manned aircraft surveillance and current ground assets to ensure more effective monitoring of United...