The sudden closure of El Paso's airspace Wednesday came sometime after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials used an anti-drone laser that was provided by the military to shoot down objects that were later identified as party balloons, four people familiar with the matter said.
The technology was used without coordinating with officials from the Federal Aviation Administration, the people said.
The testing of U.S. military-owned laser technology was taking place in the proximity of the airport. The FAA responded by issuing a “temporary flight restriction notice,” which was to shut down the airspace for 10 days. It prevented flights, including helicopters used for medical transport, below 18,000 feet. The airport is a major hub for the region, with more than 50 flights scheduled every day.
The airspace was reopened several hours later Wednesday morning. The decision prompted confusion and finger-pointing inside the Trump administration over who was to blame.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, frustrated by the conflicting reports and a lack of information, requested a classified briefing with the FAA administrator over the closure.
“At this point, the details of what exactly occurred over El Paso are unclear," said Cruz, the head of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday evening for a scheduled closed-door meeting and refused to answer reporters' questions about the closure. He said he would respond to Cruz’s request once he receives it.
One of the people familiar with the testing said the Defense Department has a working relationship with Homeland Security, where CBP is headquartered, that allows its personnel to use certain military equipment for its objectives, testing, evaluation and use along the southern border.
Recently, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the use of the weapon for CBP, the people said. Spokespeople for CBP referred questions to the White House, which did not elaborate beyond initial statements.
Initially, a Trump administration official and some lawmakers said the airspace had been closed because the U.S. military had shot down a cartel drone. Administration officials maintain that was the case.
But the people familiar with the matter said that was not true, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday there was no indication that any cartel drones were operating near the border.
It then appeared the airport grounding was in response to the testing of the technology by the military. But it has now become clear, according to the people, that it was CBP using it.
Separately, the Defense Department is testing similar laser weaponry that military personnel will potentially use to counter drones used by drug cartels.
That weaponry requires coordination with the FAA, and a meeting is scheduled to take place Feb. 20 to discuss safety and regulatory issues. The people familiar with the matter said that the meeting could help to explain why the FAA responded with the 10-day airspace closure.
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said the temporary flight restriction was unnecessary and “should have never happened.”
“This unnecessary decision has caused chaos and confusion in the El Paso community,” he said at a news conference. “You cannot restrict airspace over a major city without coordinating with the city, the airport, the hospitals, the community leadership. That failure to communicate is unacceptable.”
Johnson said medical evacuation flights had to be diverted to Las Cruces, about 45 miles away. All aviation operations, including emergency flights, were grounded, he said.
“This was a major and unnecessary disruption, one that has not occurred since 9/11,” he said.
The FAA had said in a “notice to airmen” that no flights would be able to operate in the airspace over El Paso and the neighboring community of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, for 10 days, from Feb. 11 to Feb. 21.
The FAA, which is only responsible for U.S. airspace, did not elaborate on why the restrictions had been put in place for El Paso, which borders Mexico and the city of Ciudad Juárez.
The notice said the airspace was classified as national defense airspace.
Deadly force could be used on an aircraft if it is determined that it “poses an imminent security threat,” it said. Pilots who violated the order “may be intercepted, detained and interviewed” by law enforcement and security personnel, according to the notice.
