U.S. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announces unmanned predator drone flights above U.S.-Mexico border

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced on Monday that unmanned predator drone flights will begin along the U.S.-Mexico southwest border to provide security and aerial surveillance to personnel on the ground.

The new border-wide use of the Predator drone will come on the heels of the recently passed U.S.-Mexico border security legislation, which provides two additional Unmanned Arial Systems (UAS) that will be the keystone of the new operations. The efforts are the latest steps in an unprecedented amount of resources that President Obama has committed to the area, no doubt due to the amount of bipartisan demand for an increase of security in the region.

Additionally, the President authorized the deployment of an additional 1,200 National Guard troops to the border to provide intelligence and immediate support to counternarcotic enforcement officers. The Obama administration, in addition, is providing $600 million to fund new security technology at the border to share information and support with state, local, and tribal law enforcement.

President Obama and his administration have been under intense scrutiny, since his campaign, to focus on U.S.-Mexico border security. This has been an increasingly important issue since violence due to drug activity has increased in recent months, causing an outcry for a stronger response from the Federal government.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

Related posts:

1. Gov. Perry asks Obama for 1,000 soldiers and unmanned aerial vehicles to fight trafficking and violence on Texas-Mexico border
2. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announces $78 million in ARRA funds for airport security technology projects
3. Secretary Napolitano highlights accomplishments on first anniversary of Southwest Border Initiative
4. Obama administration confirms the deployment of the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border on Aug. 1
5. Gov. Scharzenegger announces readiness of first of 224 soldiers to be deployed to California-Mexico border