Drones equipped with heat-seeking technology are being deployed along the Texas border as part of Operation Lone Star—a wider initiative by the state to clamp down on illegal immigration.
In a video explaining the capabilities of the devices, Staff Sergeant Daniel Moya-Rivera, stationed in El Paso said: “Well at night there are thermal night vision features, modes to [the drone], that can help us identify if it sees anything moving.”
“If we were to see people cutting the [concertina] wire out here, we would grab a radio, and we would notify the ground forces.”
The drones also provide latitude and longitude coordinates, allowing agents on the ground to pinpoint the precise location of any activity along the border.
Newsweek has contacted Governor Greg Abbott‘s office for comment via email outside of standard working hours.
According to Abbott’s office, since the launch of Operation Lone Star in 2021 the multi-agency effort has resulted in 518,300 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 46,000 criminal arrests.
It also claims that Texas has decreased illegal crossings into the state by 85 percent during due to the multi-billion-dollar border mission.
In March, Abbott announced that National Guard soldiers were undergoing training to operate airboats as part of the state’s push to curb migration. Other efforts include the deployment of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande and placing razor wire along the southern border.
Agents operate a drone device. The drones employ infrared technology to identify activity along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Texas Military Department
Operation Lone Star was launched by Abbott in 2021 to combat rising border crossings. A press release at the time said the operation would integrate the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) with the Texas National Guard “to combat the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas.”
Abbott has criticized the incumbent administration for what he called “open border policies.”
“The crisis at our southern border continues to escalate because of Biden Administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration,” read the release announcing the launch of Operation Lone Star.
However, the initiative has attracted criticism of its own, including reports that the mission was under investigation by the Department of Justice for alleged civil rights violations, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica.
Other investigations have suggested that state officials included arrests that weren’t strictly related to border or drug seizures in the state when speaking of Operation Lone Star’s achievements.
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