As Border Crossings Drop, Smugglers Beef Up Drone Use

As border crossings continue to drop to the lowest figures of the entire Biden administration, smugglers are pulling out all the stops to evade border patrol agents, whose tactics have become increasingly more cutting-edge.

One strategy has been to divert crossings from Texas and California to Arizona, where, despite the treacherous terrain, offers a more secluded area to avoid detention. Another one, however, has been to beef up their technology as smugglers are now allegedly using drones to help transport immigrants through the border, according to KIII-TV.

"Guideless groups, they use the drones to keep an eye on where agents are patrolling, and also areas of advantage for them," said Border Patrol's Public Affairs officer Agent Christina Smallwood. "Areas that are open and what that does is they are able to guide with a cellphone and guide one group from one area to another all the way to a pick-up point."

The use of drones at the border has been common practice for a while, with border security beginning program in January 2023 aimed at reducing the need for large troop deployments to the border and future operational costs. By June, authorities claimed to have 32 teams, including 74 pilots, patrolling the southern border.

In early September, embattled U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) also reported that the state's current aerostat program could be acquiring up to a dozen newer models of the surveillance blimp systems that can be used along the entire border.

"I'm a big believer of aerostats, because, you know, you can cover, depending on the equipment, 75 miles," Cuellar said at the time. Because of the high maintenance cost related to aerostats, however, DHS has opted to add more cameras and mobile surveillance devices across the border, as they are less expensive to operate