Details Newly Released in El Paso Military Action

The U.S. military just released details following a major threat to U.S. airspace near El Paso. Mexican drug cartels’ drones breached our airspace, leading to our military taking them out. As a result, the FAA temporarily shut down El Paso International Airport for 10 days before announcing within hours that air traffic would resume shortly thereafter.

As reported:

The Trump administration says “Mexican cartel drones” breached U.S. airspace on Wednesday, causing a temporary closure of flights to and from El Paso International Airport in Texas.

“The Department of War took action to disable the drones,” an administration official told Military Times. The Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon “have determined there is no threat to commercial travel,” the official added.

The El Paso International Airport is located less than 10 miles from Biggs Army Airfield on Fort Bliss.

Leadership at the installation remained in the dark about the decision to shut down the air space around the base and were not informed when the restrictions were lifted, according to a defense official.

“Leadership found out in real time,” the official said.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy also addressed the situation on X, praising the quick response:

The FAA and DOW acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion.

The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.

The restrictions have been lifted and normal flights are resuming.

A lot of you woke up to the same alert I did: full airspace closure over El Paso, Texas.

For a moment, it felt surreal. We just don’t see that happen in the United States. The last time Americans remember a major airspace shutdown was after 9/11.

Cartels have used drones for years to smuggle drugs and weapons, conduct surveillance on Border Patrol, and even to drop improvised explosives. And yet, I have to ask the question: If cartel drones are a common occurrence along the southern border with Mexico, why call for a 10-day ground stop at all?

If it’s just another day on the border, why such a sweeping restriction, even if it ultimately only lasted a few hours? Obviously, speculation without a lot of information is rarely helpful, and I want to be careful.

Some have pointed out El Paso’s proximity to Fort Bliss and other sensitive facilities. Others have wondered whether the U.S. used this opportunity to test out new counter-drone technologies – tools that may not have been previously tested near commercial air corridors for obvious safety reasons.

Or was this some new drone technology, or something else, that we weren’t prepared to deal with? After all, there are also methods to disable drones electronically, through directed energy or signal disruption. If something more advanced was involved, officials may have opted for caution out of an abundance of caution.

We don’t have all the answers yet. And Members of Congress from the area have said they were not given advance notice of a prolonged closure. That suggests there’s more to learn about how the situation unfolded and why it escalated the way it did.

But this incident should serve as a reminder that border security is not just about people crossing on foot. It’s not the caricature many Americans still hold in their minds of someone sneaking across with contraband in a backpack.

Cartels are now operating like sophisticated, well-funded enterprises. They have armies. They leverage technology. They adapt quickly. They innovate. Because like any major corporation, cartels are driven by profit. And they have vast resources to protect their enterprises.

And cartel infrastructure doesn’t simply exist and operate – as one caller put it today – “over there.” Their tentacles are wrapped throughout the United States. They pressure and utilize American gangs. They coerce. They threaten. They extend their reach deep into American cities.

What happened over El Paso appears to have been resolved quickly. Flights resumed. The immediate danger passed. But when American airspace closes – even just briefly – because of cartel-linked activity, it underscores that this isn’t just a talking point. It’s a national security issue unfolding in real time.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included more analysis of the report that cartels flew drones into American airspace and the reaction of the FAA. We were also joined by ACLJ Senior Counsel Jeff Ballabon, head of ACLJ Jerusalem, with an update related to yesterday’s Religious Liberty Commission in Washington, D.C., which we told you had been essentially hijacked by one antisemitic participant. Now that particular person, former Miss California Carrie Prejean Boller, has rightly been removed from the commission altogether. And we discussed today’s meeting between President Trump and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

Watch the full broadcast below: