AG Abbott wants objective criteria for determining if border is secure

Mark Tapscott:
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told a gathering of reporters in Washington, D.C. today that he would consider using state-owned drones in securing his state's border with Mexico.

Asked if Texas should buy its own drones for use in border security, Abbott said "I would, it would be something to think about because with the drone you can actually see what is happening on the ground and it could help establish whether those objective criteria were being met."

Abbott acknowledged the potential for invasion of privacy problems with drones but said he believed those worries could be satisfied.

Earlier in the discussion, Abbott listed having objective criteria for determining whether a border area is sufficiently safe and secure for residents as a pre-requisite for resolution of immigration issues currently being debated in Congress.

...
I think there are going to be excess drones available for use by the states with the withdrawal from Afghanistan.   While we are still going to need them in places like North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, we probably have a large fleet now.  The DHS currently has a couple of drones along the Texas border, but that is not enough to cover an area this large.  It could take a lot of drones.

I am not anymore concerned about drones invading my privacy as I am helicopters.  The main difference is that drones can be more persistent, but they would quickly get bored looking at my roof and tees.  I suppose that people engaged in illicit business might be concerned about law enforcement monitoring who comes and goes at a location and when they do it, but most of us don't live the kind of life where that would matter.

I would like to see more discussion on what objective criteria would be needed to make a determination about the border.  I don't think the data from the DHS would be all that reliable.  I would want to see data from local law enforcement on arrest for trafficking and the locating of stash houses.  As I noted earlier DHS admits it does not have operational control of over half the border, yet they insist it is safer than ever.  How do they know?

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