Hearing addresses technology’s role in mitigating illicit activity along southwest border

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) recently chaired a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee to examine the role that technology plays in predicting, deterring, and detecting illicit activity along the nation’s southern border with Mexico.

The hearing comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) plans an unmanned aerial vehicle test in McSally’s home state in August.

“Putting more technology on the border will increase our chances of apprehending dangerous individuals and interdicting lethal drugs like heroin and fentanyl that cause so much death and pain for our fellow American citizens,” McSally said during her opening statement. “Technology is a crucial force multiplier, and part of a multi-layered approach of the ‘right mix of infrastructure, personnel, and technology’ that we have used for at least 20 years.”

A large portion of the hearing focused on the challenges seen throughout CBP’s Tucson sector, which is home to 50 percent of the nation’s marijuana smuggling and a number of human trafficking incidents.

Dennis Michelini, director of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), stated that the Tuscon Sector was a “center cog” for CBP in the western United States and that more flight hours were carried out with UAS in the area compared to any other. He added that the agency uses blackhawk helicopters, citations for air interdictions, AS350 helicopters, and a number of fixed-wing aircraft in its daily operations.

“We are testing other unmanned aerial systems in order to fill a gap,” Scott A. Luck, acting deputy chief for U.S. Border Patrol, said. “We are going to test small UAS in Arizona coming next month.”