WASHINGTON (AP) — The sudden and surprising airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, stemmed from the Pentagon’s plans to test a laser for use in shooting down drones used by Mexican drug cartels, according to three people familiar with the situation who were granted anonymity to share sensitive details.
That caused friction with the Federal Aviation Administration, which wanted to ensure commercial air safety and the two agencies sought to coordinate, according to two of the people.
Despite a meeting scheduled later this month to discuss the issue, the Pentagon wanted to go ahead and test it, prompting the FAA to shutter the airspace. It was not clear whether the laser was ultimately deployed.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that a response to an incursion by Mexican cartel drones had led to the airspace closure and that the threat had been neutralized. Drone incursions are not uncommon along the southern border.
Officials at the White House, FAA and Department of Transportation did not respond immediately Wednesday to request for comment about the dispute. The Pentagon said it had nothing to add to its statement that largely mirrored Duffy’s comment.
The FAA had originally announced a 10-day closure of the airspace, confusing travelers at the airport in the border city with a population of nearly 700,000. The order was lifted a few hours later. No Mexican airspace was closed.
Duffy said in a post on X that the FAA and the Defense Department “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion. The threat has been neutralized and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.” Duffy said normal flights were resuming Wednesday morning. He did not say how many drones were involved or what specifically was done to disable them.
Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, said neither her office, the city of El Paso nor airport operations received advance notice. She said she believed the shutdown was not based on Mexican cartel drones in U.S. airspace, saying that “is not what we in Congress have been told.”
Pentagon officials declined to comment on Escobar’s remarks and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office referred questions to the FAA.
“I believe the FAA owes the community and the country an explanation as to why this happened so suddenly and abruptly and was lifted so suddenly and abruptly,” Escobar said during a news conference. The shutdown had been expected to create significant disruptions given the duration and the size of the metropolitan area around El Paso.
“The information coming from the federal government does not add up,” Escobar said.
Cross-border drone activity is not new
Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district covers an area that stretches for about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) along Texas' border with Mexico, said cartel drone sightings are common.
“For any of us who live and work along the border, daily drone incursions by criminal organizations is every-day life for us. It’s a Wednesday for us,” Gonzales said.
Asked about the drone explanation provided by U.S. officials, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she had “no information about the use of drones on the border.” She noted that if U.S. authorities have more information they should contact Mexico’s government.
Steven Willoughby, the deputy director of the counter-drone program at the Department of Homeland Security, told lawmakers in July that cartels are using drones nearly every day to transport drugs across the border and surveil Border Patrol agents.
More than 27,000 drones were detected within 500 meters (1,600 feet) of the southern border in the last six months of 2024, he testified, mostly at night. Homeland Security has said agents have seized thousands of pounds of methamphetamine, fentanyl and other drugs in recent years that cartels were trying to fly across the border using drones.
