Inside the border command center tracking migrants with drones

Ft. Huachuca, Fault. – In a windowless and dark transport container, two analysts looked at the six screen sets showing data from a MQ-9 Predator B drone.

Both were looking for two adults and a child who escaped when a border patrol agent approached the US-Mexico border and a truck approaching.

Ft. Huachuca Base sat on an old shipping container occupied by a drone pilot and a camera operator, returning the drone camera to scan 9 miles of square shrubs and Saguaros for immigrants. Like the command center, the next shipping container was mostly illuminated with the glow of computer screens.

The three immigrant hunting embodied how advanced technology has become a vital part of the efforts of the Trump administration to secure the border.

Ministry of Internal Security, this year ft. Huachuca says Base and flights cost $ 3,800 per hour, but a General Report of 2015 said that the amount was closer to $ 13,000 when factoring in personnel salaries and operational costs. Authorities, maintenance problems and bad weather conditions usually mean that drones fly in half of the watches, he said.

With a rapid decline in immigrant transitions on the southern US border, drones are now assigned to less tasks. This means that they have time to watch small groups and even the individual boundary jumps that make trekking to the north in the desert.

This type of drone, which was first used in the war, was run by the National Air Safety Operations Department of the Customs and Border Protection at the Ordu Base, about 70 miles south of Tucson. A reporter was allowed to observe the operation in April if the personnel were not named and photographs were taken.

Today, the flying drone was mounted with a radar called vehicles and exploitation radar or valley, which can identify any moving object in the drone and identify with color -coded points for two analysts in the first container. The program had already found three border patrol agents, one of which is on pedestrian and two on motorcycles. Analysts also identified three cows and two horses directed to Mexico.

Then, one of the analysts identified something.

“We understood them,” he said to his colleague who scanned the land. “Good job.”

Analyst left a needle for immigrants and began to watch the Vader program movements on a blue path. Now, the agents had to guide them on the ground.

Analyst, a live video of each living creature between the heat signature of a infrared camera appearance, “I think we have an adult man and a child stuck in this bush. Analyst, border patrol colleagues approaching motorcycles saw.

The monitoring program, the roaring of the upcoming machines was afraid of a bird. The immigrants began to run.

“Okay, it looks like it starts,” the camera operator said to the Border patrol agents on the radio. “They hear the bikes. They hear you.” Camera operator and other personnel, 911 operators spoke in the professional, real tone.

An adult and child began to mix a hill. “They are mainly moving the North and the West,” the camera operator said. “Start to take the speed that goes uphill.”

The agents ran the double and detained them. He was a mother and child. The drone team turned their attention to a third person who stumbled from the brush and made a beeline for the Mexican border.

“If you cut the south from your current position,” he said to the camera operator. “You have to take a sign.”

The camera operator, as guided, scanned the beet, far away and more south along the desert.

Im I got them, ”he said when he noticed someone running. Coordinates radiated to the border patrol team.

So far, the man carrying a backpack had scaled a hill.

“Currently, Ridgeline is progressing south and progressing slowly,” the camera operator said.

Then the man dropped something.

“Hey, mark that point, the camera operator said. “He just threw a package, where my plus signs are located here.”

An analyst said that the agents would then go back and see if the backpack contained medication. “Usually, if food or water, they won’t do it,” he said.

This spring morning, the drone was not the only asset deployed. A helicopter had joined the chase to capture the man who stumbled, shielded and continued to run.

“He got a pretty good spill there, an analyst said to the radio.

“There is a helix outside for five minutes of three points,” the camera operator said.

A helicopter came to the drone’s opinion. He surrounded the man who was hiding under a shrub so far.

The camera operator radio the helicopter pilot. “He is between you and Saguaro.”

With a key kick, the brush was released to find the man’s heat profile from the brush to make sure he had it.

Directed by the camera operator, the pilot lowered to a cloud of dust near the helicopter cutting target. Video feeding showed that agents jumped off the plane, detained the man and put him on the helicopter. The helicopter lifted and leaned towards the patrol pole near the north. “Thank you sir, all the help is appreciated, Analyst Analyst said to the helicopter pilot.

The task was performed, the drone pilot turned MQ-9 along the US-Mexico border and scanned the wide desert to search for more immigrants. The army plans to deliver a third MQ-9 drone in this fall after spending a year for the use of civil authority.

Fisher is a special correspondent. Published with this article Puente News CooperationA bilingual profit, which is dedicated to high quality, real-based news and information from the US-Mexico border, is a collector and the Minister of Fund.