The U.S. military deployed a laser to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone over Texas on Thursday, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to expand airspace restrictions near the border.
The incident involved the Defense Department using a high-energy laser against what it described as a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system in military airspace. It occurred near Fort Hancock, about 50 miles southeast of El Paso and close to Fort Bliss, an Army base with counter-drone operations.
In a joint statement, the Pentagon, CBP, and FAA said the action was taken under President Trump’s direction to counter drone threats from Mexican cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“This reported engagement occurred when the Department of War employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace,” the agencies stated, without specifying that a CBP drone was involved, NBC News reported. They added that “These agencies will continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future.”
No commercial aircraft were nearby, officials noted.
Democratic lawmakers sharply criticized the mishap, viewing it as evidence of poor interagency coordination. Reps. Rick Larsen of Washington, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, and André Carson of Indiana — ranking members on key House committees overseeing transportation, homeland security, and aviation — issued a joint statement saying they learned of the event through official channels but had not been fully briefed.
“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,” they wrote.
The FAA responded by broadening an existing flight ban over Fort Hancock for special security reasons, effective until late June. The restriction, which began Thursday, covers a small community along the Mexico border and requires prior coordination for medical evacuations or search-and-rescue flights. Unlike a similar closure two weeks earlier, this one does not disrupt commercial air traffic.
That prior event involved CBP, assisted by military personnel, using a counter-drone laser to target what agents mistook for a cartel drone near Fort Bliss. It turned out to be party balloons, leading to a brief shutdown of El Paso International Airport and the surrounding airspace. The FAA lifted the ban hours later amid confusion, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy initially blaming a drug cartel incursion.
Lawmakers, including Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, demanded briefings on the earlier episode. A U.S. official later confirmed the Defense Department had provided the laser to CBP in January.
The Defense and Transportation departments deferred questions to the FAA, which confirmed the expanded closure but offered no further details on the incident.
