House Homeland Security hearing examines DHS drone use for border security, disaster response and counter‑UAS challenges

WASHINGTON — The House Committee on Homeland Security’s subcommittees on Border Security and Enforcement and on Emergency Management and Technology convened a hearing to examine the Department of Homeland Security’s use of unmanned aircraft systems, commonly called drones, across DHS components and to consider operational benefits, supply‑chain limits, counter‑drone threats and civil‑liberties issues.

The hearing opened with Chairman Michael Guest describing how DHS components have integrated UAS into border security and response missions. “Drones have equipped Customs and Border Protection with the ability to locate and track threats in the air while also increasing officer and agent safety on the ground,” Guest said during his opening remarks, and he cited CBP program gains including a statement that CBP seized approximately 2,800 pounds of illicit narcotics from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2023.

Why it matters: Members and witnesses said drones can be a force multiplier for border agents, law enforcement and first responders — providing faster situational awareness for interdiction, search and rescue, and damage assessment after disasters — but they also flagged counter‑UAS threats, limits on domestic manufacturing, certification bottlenecks and privacy risks that could slow or complicate wider adoption.

Operational uses and demonstrations

Brian Farrell, interim director of Mississippi State University’s RASPIT Flight…