The Pentagon on Thursday reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone near El Paso, Texas. File Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
The Department of Defense shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone, Democratic House lawmakers said Thursday, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to expand its temporary flight restriction around Texas’ Fort Hancock.
The Trump administration confirmed the shootdown in a statement to UPI, stating the Pentagon “employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace.”
“The engagement took place far away from populated areas and there were no commercial aircraft in the vicinity,” the Pentagon, FAA and CBP said in the joint emailed statement.
“These agencies will continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future.”
No explanation as to how the mishap occurred was provided, nor why the laser was deployed.
It was not immediately clear exactly where or when the shootdown took place.
The agencies said they were working at President Donald Trump’s direction to mitigate Mexican cartel and terrorist drone threats emanating from Mexico.
“The bottom line is the Trump administration is doing more to secure the border and crack down on cartels than any administration in history,” they said.
Democratic lawmakers were quick to condemn the shootdown and its use of the counter-drone weapon system.
“Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high-risk counter-unmanned aircraft system,” Reps. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., Andre Carson, D-Ind., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement.
“We said months ago that the White House’s decision to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, [the Department of Homeland Security] and the FAA was a short-sighted idea.
“Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence.”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., ranking member of the Senate’s Aviation Subcommittee, called on the Departments of Defense, Transportation and Homeland Security, as well as related inspectors general, to “immediately” launch an investigation.
“It’s this kind of failure to communicate between the DoD and FAA that led to the tragic loss of life above DCA,” she said in a statement, referring to the fatal midair collision near Washington National Airport in January 2025 of an American Airlines jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. Sixty-seven people were killed.
“The situation is alarming and demands a thorough, independent investigation.”
The FAA told UPI that it expanded the temporary flight restriction in place around Fort Hancock, about 50 miles southeast of El Paso.
The restriction has been in place since Dec. 23 for “Special Security Reasons.” It has been “expanded to include a greater radius to ensure safety,” the FAA told UPI. It is in place through 8 p.m. local time on June 23, according to the Notice to Air Missions.
The incident comes two weeks after the CBP’s use of a military laser intended to target drones prompted the FAA to suspend all flights over El Paso, citing “special security reasons.” The suspension was initially for 10 days, but was revoked about eight hours after it was imposed.
The FAA told UPI that the expanded flight restriction does not impact commercial flights.
