Predator Drone that Crashed Near US-Mexico Border Epitomizes Dangers Ricardo Favela - San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium
go to original February 6, 2014

SAN DIEGO - Last week, a Predator B drone crashed off the San Diego coast after experiencing mechanical issues. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operators intentionally crashed the multi-million dollar drone into the ocean. CBP has now grounded the remaining nine drones as a precautionary measure.

Border organizations are expressing concerns about the use of drones for border enforcement purposes citing financial costs, privacy and surveillance issues, as well as dangers involved with technical failures.

On behalf of the Southern California representation of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, Pedro Rios, Director of the American Friends Service Committee in San Diego, released this statement:

“The use of drones for border enforcement operations has always been a concern to border residents. As evidenced by this crash and others that have occurred recently, drones are dangerous and set a bad precedent for protecting our civil liberties. Ranging from 12 to 18 million dollars per drone, that money could be better used for essential community infrastructures and meeting community needs such as hospitals, better schools, improving city infrastructure.

We should not be wasting millions of dollars on faulty and ineffective tools that put peoples’ lives at risk. There is no telling what might have happened had the drone been flying in a populated, urban area, without a clear landing spot in its horizon.”

The Office of Inspector General’s May 2012 report recommended postponement of acquiring additional drones because the program lacks resource planning, funding for operations and maintenance, lacks equipment, strategic coordination, and does not support stakeholders’ mission requests.

In September 2011, the Government Accountability Office estimated that the hourly charge for using a drone is $3,234, or an almost $65,000 per 20 hour mission.

“There is too high of a human and economic cost to bear in using drones for border enforcement. Their continued use is a disaster waiting to happen. We are lucky today that the drone crash off the waters of San Diego was not instead in a bustling San Diego neighborhood,” stated Christian Ramirez, Director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition.

See the original at SDIRC

The Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC), is made up of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium (CA), Border Action Network (AZ), Arizona Sonora Border Coalition (AZ), Taskforce for Immigrant Advocacy & Services (NM), and Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network (TX).

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