UAV added to Texas border watch

San Antonio Express-News:

A second unmanned aerial vehicle to provide surveillance above Texas was part of new initiatives announced Wednesday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to bolster security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Napolitano said the Federal Aviation Administration approved UAV flights over the Texas border from the Big Bend to the Rio Grande Valley to help combat smuggling of humans and contraband.

“These types of flights aren't useful everywhere, but in some places they are part of the right mix of infrastructure, manpower and technology to improve border security,” Napolitano said in a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“This is the case with parts of the Texas border,” she said. “We plan to move forward with using this technology there.”

Texas elected officials long have called on the Obama administration to provide UAV surveillance along the state's border with Mexico.

...

Much of the border area where it will be used is uninhabited. It sounds like the plan is to use it more for detecting drug dealers than illegals. Deterrence does not seem to be in the mix for Homeland Security these days.

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