The threat of cartel drone incursions along the U.S.-Mexico border, estimated at 40,000 to 60,000 incidents per year, was largely ignored under the Biden Administration. The February 10 airspace shutdown over El Paso underscores the serious challenges the Trump administration now faces as it finally gives the drone threats to the homeland the urgent attention they deserve.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, on February 10, the incursion of a drug cartel drone spawned the issuance of a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) that restricted aircraft operations for El Paso and parts of eastern New Mexico, effectively closing all air traffic into or out of the border city. The unprecedented move, which initially called for a complete ground stop for all aircraft entering and leaving the El Paso International Airport, raised the ire of local, state, and federal officials, who bemoaned the lack of communication beforehand.
The NOTAM was terminated less than eight hours later, punctuated by a social media post on X by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributing the closure to a cartel drone incursion offering followers a brief description of the conclusion to the air stoppage caused by the cartel drone incursion saying, “The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.”
The brief explanation by Secretary Duffy did not address the enormous efforts underway by the Trump administration to finally counter the drone threat that the Mexican cartels have posed for several years.
The effort to focus on the largely ignored drone threat went into high gear after President Trump signed an executive order in June 2025 titled “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty”. In the order, Trump cited the dangers posed by criminals, terrorists, and hostile foreign actors who have weaponized the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) against the United States.
The President highlighted the threat in the order, saying, “Drug cartels use UAS to smuggle fentanyl across our borders, deliver contraband into prisons, surveil law enforcement, and otherwise endanger the public. Mass gatherings are vulnerable to disruptions and threats from unauthorized UAS flights. Critical infrastructure, including military bases, is subject to frequent — and often unidentified — UAS incursions. Immediate action is needed to ensure American sovereignty over its skies and that its airspace remains safe and secure.”
The order compels administration officials, among other things, to increase counter-UAS capability and cements ongoing efforts at the southwest border as part of the President’s efforts to secure the border after his inauguration.
Part of the President’s initiatives to that end included sending military units to the southwest border to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detect UAS threats and any to identify any ground targets associated with UAS incursions.
The 10th Mountain Division radar unit was specifically deployed to the southwest border to provide a capability previously unheard of in a homeland defense environment. Specifically, the platoon deployed the AN/TPQ-53 Quick Reaction Capability Radar, which can identify the origin and impact location of weapons such as rockets and mortars, and the AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar system, which tracks low-flying aircraft and UAS threats across wide areas. The highly sophisticated equipment, historically used only on the battlefield under previous administrations, has now been adapted for homeland defense.
The efforts to detect drone incursions serve as the starting point for what has been exposed by the El Paso airspace shutdown as an extremely challenging quandary: how to take down a suspect drone without threatening legitimate air traffic near border airports and military installations.
In April, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Homeland Defense and Americas Security Affairs Mark Roosevelt Ditlevson testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, addressing the challenges of conducting counter-drone operations in civilian airspace.
In his testimony, Ditlevson remarked on the challenges telling committee members, “The systems that have proven effective at countering UAS in the Middle East are not appropriate for the homeland given the intelligence collection required to enable these mitigation operations and the potential for collateral damage.” Ditlevson told committee members that the Department of War’s understanding of the threat and unique mitigation dynamics related to the UAS threat against the homeland has improved greatly, and recommended continued shared government efforts to combat and resolve these threats.
The Cartel-specific UAS threats range from counter-surveillance activity against U.S. law enforcement, incursions to deliver illicit narcotics by air, and ominously include the ability to deploy weaponized drones that have recently been used in Mexico to attack the military and law enforcement, as reported by Breitbart Texas.
One way the Trump administration’s Department of War is hoping to solve the challenge of addressing the UAS threat at the border and beyond is through the Drone Dominance Program, an initiative to improve UAS and counter UAS capabilities.
In a July 2025 memorandum to senior leaders at the Pentagon, U.S. Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth referred to drones as the “biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, accounting for most of this year’s casualties in Ukraine.”
As part of the program, the U.S. Department of War announced an invitation to 25 vendors to compete in phase one of the Drone Dominance Program (DDP), an acquisition reform effort to rapidly procure low-cost, unmanned attack drones. The Department of War will also use the program to quickly acquire innovative counter-UAS solutions that may serve to reduce or eliminate the threat of UAS incursions at the southwest border, attacks abroad, and within the homeland.
Although miscommunication may have marred the short-lived closure of El Paso airspace to address a cartel drone incursion, the episode underscores how the Trump administration is finally building real momentum in confronting a cartel drone threat the previous administration largely ignored for years.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X @RandyClarkBBTX.
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