Texas Gov. Rick Perry says Predator drones should patrol Texas border

Article

IRVING – Gov. Rick Perry called for the use of unarmed Predator drones to patrol the Texas-Mexico border on Monday as he tried to shore up his border security credentials in a campaign stop at the Irving Police Association Hall.

Perry said he has asked the U.S. Department of Defense to deploy a Predator – the unmanned aircraft used by the military both for gathering intelligence and carrying out missile strikes – to help improve border security and provide "real-time" data. Predators are now in use at the Arizona border for surveillance of drug and migrant smuggling.

Perry, who is seeking a third full term as governor, also emphasized his fight against transnational gangs through law enforcement grants that have gone to the cities of Arlington, Fort Worth, Garland and Irving.

Just saw this on the local news. I live in Texas so this is in my backyard, pretty much.

I highly doubt this is really going to go anywhere. Perry has been talking about doing more stuff on the border for like over 2 years now but hasnt really done anything at all. In the article it says he said the federal goverment has been failing on the border but im pretty sure Perry is in league with the fed at the moment. If he really wanted to do something, he would have.

I dont believe anything he says, unless he says hes going to raise taxes, because he really actually does that other than just talking about it. The only person running for governer down here I actually trust would be Debra Medina, but shes just a bit under the radar so I doubt anything is going to change soon.

Fellow North Texan here...

Medina, as you mentioned, doesn't have the exposure or a chance...

Get ready for more of the same, even if Kay Bailey somehow wins.

The Gov. really only makes noise when it's re-election time.

How do you feel about using the drones? Seems a little extreme big-brother, yes?

[edit on 8-2-2010 by Signals]

IF border security mattered and
IF people were serious about it

Something would have been done long ago.

Now it's just hot air.


Regards to the great state of Texas.

reply to post by Signals


In my opinion, I think the drones would be a great asset to have on our border. Instead of using people, they could just have the drone fly around to spot people crossing the border. I wouldnt put hellfire missles on it tho, considering if they shot one off, it would be on US soil. I say just use them to spot people crossing the border pretty much.

It's all political posturing IMHO. Perry faces a tough opponent in Hutchinson so they'll both be quacking like magpies after a Starbucks stop until this election is over.

Perry seems to be waving his "man-card" by playing on the aggressive albeit primitive nature of a large majority of the TX voters by trying to invoke dominance through military reference.

Interesting enough though is that KBH is spouting how she's increased border patrols along the border blah blah but if Perry's indications are true - and nothing's been changed in the past couple of years along our border, then he may already have won this round.

For me, personally, this election really does come down to the lesser of 2 evils.

I'll never forgive Perry for his almost-forced Gardisil (SP) vaccination program for female teens a few years back and KBH for her voting to bail out the bankers.

I know there's a 3rd party in the running who I have yet to research. Let's hope they offer some sane choices.

It will be pretty tough for Perry to secure those drone planes if he actually attempts to follow through with his threat to have Texas secede from the nation.

There was actually a secret test done with this drones back in Nov. 2007 near Houston. The the problem was people living in this small town noticed a convoy of suspicious black trucks complete with an entourage of several Houston police escorts in the middle of the day. Needless to say, it raised more than a few eyebrows and didn't stay a secret for very long.

Montalvo told reporters the unmanned aircraft would be used for "mobility" or traffic issues, evacuations during storms, homeland security, search and rescue, and also "tactical." She admitted that could include covert police actions and she said she was not ruling out someday using the drones for writing traffic tickets.

source

Considering the amount of bureaucracy inherent in the Texas state government, I sincerely doubt that this will come to pass any time soon.

edited to correct myself

[edit on 9-2-2010 by TXRabbit]

[edit on 9-2-2010 by TXRabbit]

reply to post by maria_stardust


That's a great point....If I was running against him I'd be pulling the succession card for sure!

Back to the drones...first we use them for border patrol, then writing traffic tickets....then.... I don't like the way that could go at all! If they want to spy on us just use the satellites already in place.

And speaking of campaign promises.....Palestinian Dem. candidate Farouk Shami-

Running for the post of the Governor, he has promised that if elected, he would be creating about 100,000 new jobs. He also claimed that he would be making electricity free for all

In fact, so confident was he about his ability to ensure jobs for every Texan that he promised to pay $10 million to the state if he failed in his endeavor.

www.thaindian.com...

On the subject of the drones and how they were being tested outside of Houston in 2007, it's almost like this is something that's been in the works for some time now.

Who makes those drones and what ties to military contractors does Perry have? We can only wonder.

In regards to using the drones first for nat'l security and later for all sorts of intrusive spying, I can see your point.

Remember when the stop-light cameras starting getting installed all over the place a couple of years ago and there was a bit of uproar concerning how they were violating your privacy by watching your cars etc? (forget that they only triggered if you broke the law)
People are now pretty numb to the idea of a non-human monitoring their activities for "their own safety". Maybe the timing of this announcement by Perry is not so much a promise but rather an announcement of what's coming next.

I'm pretty sure we use those drones here in AZ to patrol the border in places like Nogales where the fence just stops and has to be manually watched. I think there's actually a show on National Geographic Channel about it called Border Wars.

I can see how they'd be useful in the border fight but knowing they have the ability to watch as closely as they do with the technology they have really makes you realize how far gone our own privacy is. The same technology is no doubt being used on the American people and as we allow it to become more integrated in any kind of police / military force, the more it will be acceptable to use against us.

I can see them "patrolling the street for drug dealers" and what not using drones in major cities to have an easy and maneuverable birds eye view on things... Just kind of has the potential to open the door for more 1984'esque big brother in my opinion.

I don't have a problem with using unarmed Predator Drones on the border to assist the Border Patrol. It's no different than them using helicopters in my opinion, but with more benefits.
Drones are stealthy.
Use less fuel.
Cost less money to operate.
Capable of tracking multiple targets at once.

If they can gather the info from the air and relay it to the ground teams so that they can better perform their jobs, then I'm all for it.

Too many people are quick to complain about illegal immigration and how our borders need to be stronger, but then turn around and complain when something is done about it.

I'm not referring to any one posting in this thread. Just an all around generalization.

The question is, "how far is TOO far?" when it comes to border protection.

Construct a Berlin-esque wall?
Man the border with fully armed Texas National Guard?
Post warning signs, broadcast warnings over the airwaves; then shoot anyone crossing?
Launch armed Predator Drones with authority to engage targets?
Close down all border crossings until the problem can be solved?

I'm not suggesting any of these. They're all rhetorical.

My point is ..
Something has to be done and done SOON! Our current methods of patrol, protection and prevention are obviously not working. We catch someone crossing, we aprehend them, take them back to the border and send them home. Allowing them to only attempt to cross again in a matter of hours.
We can't fix our internal immigration problems until we fix the root of the problem to begin with, and that's the lack of border security to stop illegal immigration.

So what I would like to do, is open the discussion on what we need to do. What do you think we need to do? How do you propose it gets done?

I'm in the UAV business and the reason why you see “predator” so much is because its one of the few that can fly under FAA rules. In the near future we might see a much wider set of rules by the FAA to allow other smaller UAVs to operate within the US. There are many better cost effective UAVs out there that would do an extremely good job in securing our borders.


[edit on 9-2-2010 by Xtrozero]

Hey Rick Perry, get real. We need jobs in TX, not UAVs. Spend the money on the human element...you know, the one that actually makes decisions and thinks critically.

I hope anyone BUT Perry gets elected...hell, I'll even vote for the Latino guy that struggles with English before I would vote Perry into another term.

Perry also mentions the military as a possibility:

Around the same time, Perry appeared to express a willingness to deploy U.S. troops across the border to bolster the fight being waged against Mexican drug cartels. "I think we have to use every aspect of law enforcement that we have including the military," he said during an appearance on MSNBC

I know this is a divisive topic, and there are passionate opinions on both sides. In my most humble opinion, everything we hear from virtually all politicians these days is based on one - and only one- goal:

Get Votes.
Get Power.
Get money for media influence, in order to:
Rinse and repeat.