Surveillance Blimp Set To Monitor New Mexico Border Amid Migrant Deaths

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is all set to deploy a high-tech surveillance blimp toward the west of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry in New Mexico, according to two federal lawmakers.

Since Oct. 1, over 140 migrants have died in the El Paso Sector of the Border Patrol, many finding it difficult to survive the extreme heat in the southern New Mexico desert. The new aerostat is being deployed to address the same issue.

"This technology is not only meant to apprehend folks that are crossing the border illegally; it's also meant to save lives and we can do that effectively with various types of technology, including the aerostat which should come online next month right here at the Santa Teresa Border Patrol station," U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez in District of New Mexico said, as per Border Report.

Alongside Vasquez, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich from New Mexico also visited the port of entry on Monday to see how the federal money was being spent on border technology.

They showcased the year-old X-ray portals for commercial trucks, funded by a $400 million federal investment. These portals help detect hidden contraband in cargo. The lawmakers promised to secure more funding to ensure there are enough CBP staff to operate the equipment.

Heinrich explained the CBP officers can now scan many of the vehicles that were coming through; however, he added, they were not 100% foolproof. "We need to expand that; we need to make sure we have the staff to support that so that they're scanning as big a percentage of vehicles as possible."

Vasquez and Heinrich planned to meet with members of a regional drug task force in Las Cruces, New Mexico, later in the day to see how federal funds are helping fight fentanyl trafficking.

However, their Republican opponents criticized the visit as a political photo opportunity, just eight weeks before early voting begins in New Mexico.

Republican Senate candidate Nella Domenici said, "Martin Heinrich spent years voting against security and safety, only to start acting like he cares weeks before an election because he's losing to someone who does care."

"Heinrich has actively made our border crisis worse, with a dangerous voting record of opening our border and unleashing cartels and lethal drugs from China into our state."

Last month, it was reported a month after President Joe Biden announced new restrictions on asylum access at the border, advocates noted that several families arriving together were getting separated, as many were sent back to Mexico without knowledge of their relatives' whereabouts.