New Border Drone Restrictions Raise Questions for Commercial Operators

AUVSI calls for clearer approval procedures as federal agencies expand efforts to counter cartel drones along the U.S.-Mexico border.

By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill

New federally imposed rules to combat the flights of cartel drones, by restricting UAV operations along a narrow strip of land along the U.S. Mexico border, should be enhanced to allow greater legitimate drone usage in the region, an official with the world’s largest nonprofit drone-oriented organization has said.

On Friday in a joint statement, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of War (DoW) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the imposition of a temporary flight restriction (TFR) for any unauthorized drone activity within one nautical mile of the border, and up to 400 feet above ground level.

“Restrictions on drone flights near sensitive areas are not new, including earlier ones along parts of the border,” Scott Shtofman, vice president of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) said in an email statement.

“We’re reviewing how this one differs and how legitimate operators get access. Our focus is the airspace itself: scope clarity, and predictable access for operators with a legitimate need.”

Shtofman said the AUVSI is reviewing the TFF, which extends along the entire border, from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of almost 2,000 miles, to gauge its potential impact on legitimate drone operations in border areas.

“It is likely to reach border communities and working areas like farmland and river corridors. For operators, the size matters less than whether access is clear and workable,” he said.

Operators who normally fly within or near the TFR corridor will need to apply to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to request access, giving the agency at least 48 hours’ notice. The FAA rules describe authorized flights in terms of missions such as law enforcement, firefighting, medevac, search and rescue, and disaster response.

What the regulation doesn’t mention is other common drone usages, such as commercial surveys, infrastructure inspections, agriculture operations or newsgathering. “It’s not yet clear whether those operators can be approved. That’s a key question for the many legitimate operators in border communities,” Shtofman said.

 He said the AUVSI would you like to see the rules display a greater degree of clarity on whether the CBP can approve commercial, infrastructure, agricultural and newsgathering operations, and on what criteria it uses to grant those approvals.

Other enhancements to the rule should include: “a response-time commitment, standing or recurring approvals for known operators who fly regularly in the area, a dependable path for urgent missions outside business hours, consistent language across the FAA’s notices, which describe emergency access differently, and an accurate display of the restriction in operator planning tools.”

In addition, because the TFR is scheduled to be in place for a year, “we’d also encourage a review point partway through, with input from operators in border communities,” Shtofman said.

U.S., Mexico increase counter-UAS operations at border

In recent months the governments of both the United States and Mexico have stepped up their counter-UAS operations in the border region to counter the proliferation of drones flown by drug cartels to conduct drug deliveries and to surveil law enforcement authorities conducting counter-drug and human smuggling operations.

Last month, the U.S. Joint Task Force–Southern Border (JTF-SB), announced that it had defeated more than 300 unmanned aerial systems this calendar year “employing kinetic and non-kinetic systems, with more than 100 defeats occurring in the month of August.”

The JTF-SB, operating under U.S. Northern Command in support of CBP, reported the deployment of the Army Multipurpose High-Energy Laser (AMP-HEL), a high-tech counter-UAS system to bring down cartel drones. The system was first employed in border protection operations on August 24 and as of September 4, JTF-SB service members had defeated 11 cartel-linked UAS using AMP-HEL.

“JTF Southern Border’s combined arms approach and fusion with mission partners is delivering a new layer of homeland defense capability to counter illegal activity on the border,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of NORAD and USNORTHCOM said in the statement. “Frontline troops have the right authorities and are leveraging a highly capable network to thwart threats to the forces conducting the territorial integrity mission.”

Also in September, Defensa, the Mexican federal cabinet department that oversees the Mexican Army and Air Force, reported on the counter-UAS activities carried out under Águila Alta (High Eagle), a joint bilateral counter-drone operation conducted by the United States and Mexico.

“The purpose of this operation is to have a more secure border, through the detection and disabling of drones for commercial use that are used by criminals on the common border to monitor the authorities during human and drug trafficking,” Defensa said.

The operation consisted of two phases: from August 31 to September 2, a coordinated counter-UAS exercise was carried out simultaneously in Tijuana, Baja California. and San Diego, California, culminating in simultaneous ground reconnaissance. Each force operated within its own territory, while sharing intelligence and coordinating their operations.

Phase two of High Eagle, which ran through September 21, 2026, involved the deployment of forces in the border strip of each country, supported by fixed and mobile anti-drone equipment.

The cooperation of the two nations in counter-UAS operations in the shared border region stems from a security agreement forged in September 2025 during a meeting of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Read more:

• Federal Agencies Announce New Drone Flight Restrictions Along U.S.-Mexico Border
• From Border Security to Biosecurity: Drones Join the Fight Against New World Screwworm
• Chippewa County Takes Flight: A New Hub for Near-Border Drone Operations