John Cornyn Asks Expert About The Frequency Of Drone Encounters At The Mexico-U.S. Border

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During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) questioned Troy E. Wilson, the Division Program Coordinator for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles at the Texas Rangers, about drone encounters at the border.

Transcript

00:00The 13th, 2024, to come to mind, the attempted assassination of President Trump,

00:06where the shooter used a drone in advance of the event to surveil the location of this program,

00:18or this rally, and in a place that was supposed to be among the most protected in America,

00:28where temporary flight restrictions were in place,

00:33the Secret Service apparently didn't have adequate anti-drone technology or the know-how to actually stop these drones.

00:42So to me, that just demonstrates that nowhere is safe.

00:47And Mr. Dixon, you made that point several times.

00:52I want to ask Captain Wilson.

00:54Captain Wilson, thank you for your service to our state over many years.

01:01Obviously, this is a big challenge at the Texas-Mexico border,

01:07and, of course, the Department of Public Safety.

01:10You're a Texas Ranger, former DPS officer.

01:14DPS has had a lot of experience dealing with border security matters for over many years.

01:19But can you give us a sense of the volume or the number of drone encounters that are seen at the border these days?

01:29Is this an occasional occurrence?

01:32Is it a daily occurrence?

01:33Is it an hourly occurrence?

01:36How frequent are the drone incursions?

01:38Thank you, Senator.

01:41It depends on the location.

01:43Right.

01:43And in a 12-month period, there were a little over 1,200 drone incursions across the border that we detected on our sensors.

01:56That you knew of?

01:57That we knew of.

01:57And that's an important point to make note of is that we knew of.

02:02And it's just our sensors, not—we're not combining all of the U.S. Border Patrol, DEA, or anybody else's sensors

02:12where we can have a common operating picture of what's going on down there on the border.

02:16Would that be helpful?

02:17It would absolutely be helpful.

02:19El Paso, UTEP, has a system out there that is very robust and very layered,

02:25and it will actually scare you if you look at what flights are crossing the border.

02:32It strikes me as bizarre that, after all these years, with all the attention being given to the border,

02:38both in the failures of the previous administration's policies to deal with border security matters,

02:43and then now that we still lack the capability to know what all is coming across the border.

02:53And I think that's a matter of urgent need for the Congress to address.

02:58This is, after all, an international border, and it's fundamentally the federal government's responsibility.

03:04I understand the state of Texas under Governor Abbott had to step up in the absence of federal government law enforcement

03:11to try to fill the gap, but it's still a huge challenge.

03:15Every time I have been to the border, and I've been there many times and welcomed many of my colleagues down there

03:24so they could learn, as I have, from the people who are on the ground there,

03:30I've always been told by Border Patrol that border security is really a combination of three things.

03:35It's infrastructure, it's boots on the ground, and it's technology.

03:40But I take it from your testimony that the technology still isn't capable of filling this particular gap.

03:48Yes, sir.

03:49And if you go along the Rio Grande River, if you ride in one of the riverboats

03:54that the Department of Homeland Security has or the DPS has,

03:57you'll see a number of scouts by the cartels and the coyotes

04:03directing the movement of immigrants across the border

04:07where they see an opening or an opportunity, is that right?

04:11Yes, sir.

04:12And so these drones provide an enhanced ability to defeat the efforts

04:19by the federal, state, and local law enforcement to secure the border.

04:24Yes, sir.

04:26So let's talk briefly about the scourge of fentanyl.

04:29Fentanyl has taken tens of thousands of lives in America.

04:35It showed up in every community throughout the country.

04:39And the unfortunate characteristic of fentanyl is it's easy to make from chemical precursors

04:46and it's relatively compact and easy to transport.

04:51But do drones currently transport fentanyl across the border?

04:56I'm not aware, personally aware of any, but I'm sure there are.

05:02And I know that there's been those instances where drugs and other things have been flown across.

05:08These drones are capable of carrying a significant payload, right?

05:12Yes, sir.

05:12Of whatever is put on the drone.

05:15And to your knowledge, are the transportation of the fentanyl across the border

05:21confined to the ports of entry, or do they also include the space between the ports of entry?

05:28And we're past time, but I'll let you finish that question.

05:30Between the ports of entry, yes, sir.

05:33And not between?

05:34No, between the ports.

05:35Between the ports of entry.

05:37Thank you, Senator.

05:38Well, there's this strange myth out there that the movement of drugs is just across the ports of entry

05:46and not between the ports of entry, but that's not your experience, is it?

05:50No, sir.

05:50Thank you, sir.

05:51Thank you, Senator.

05:52Senator Kennedy?

05:53Senator Kennedy?

05:53Um, the, the, yeah.

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