Border Officials Are Said to Have Caused El Paso Closure by Firing Anti-Drone Laser [View all]

Source: NYTimes

People familiar with the episode said the use of the technology was not coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration. Officials targeted what they thought was a drug cartel drone, but turned out to be a party balloon, they said.

Updated 9:56 p.m. ET
The abrupt closure of El Paso's airspace late Tuesday was precipitated when Customs and Border Protection officials deployed an anti-drone laser on loan from the Department of Defense without giving aviation officials enough time to assess the risks to commercial aircraft, according to multiple people briefed on the situation.

The episode led the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly declare that the nearby airspace would be shut down for 10 days, an extraordinary pause that was quickly lifted Wednesday morning at the direction of the White House.

Top administration officials quickly claimed that the closure was in response to a sudden incursion of drones from Mexican drug cartels that required a military response, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declaring in a social media post that "the threat has been neutralized."

But that assertion was undercut by multiple people familiar with the situation, who said that the F.A.A.'s extreme move came after immigration officials earlier this week used an anti-drone laser shared by the Pentagon without coordination with the F.A.A. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

C.B.P. officials thought they were firing on a cartel drone, the people said, but it turned out to be a party balloon. Defense Department officials were present during the incident, one person said.
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Mr. Cruz and Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, both said they wanted a classified briefing on the incident from the F.A.A. and the Defense Department.

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, also rejected the administration's explanations.

"A ten-day shutdown of a major U.S. air corridor is an extraordinary step that demands a clear and consistent explanation," Mr. Reed said in a statement. "The conflicting accounts coming from different parts of the federal government only deepen public concern and raise serious questions about coordination and decision-making."
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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/trump-administration-el-paso-airspace-closure-questions.html?unlocked_article_code=1.LlA.1e76.cllYKiLeb1LM&smid=url-share

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The reporting is a little disjointed. Firing on the Mylar balloon was earlier this week. It appears that that was the referenced "incursion." That is, there was no new "incursion" just prior to the shutdown late Tuesday.

Is it just the felon's C.B.P that is so incompetent? Or have they always been a mess?