The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has drawn attention for its plan to buy up to 24 more drones, despite criticism that the unmanned spy planes have many problems, California Watch reports.
The concerns prompted the Homeland Security inspector general’s office in June to urge CBP to stop buying the drones until authorities have a better handle on the planes’ budget and why they are frequently grounded in inclement weather.
“Yet Customs and Border Protection still wants more of them – up to 24 total – to patrol over land on the northern and southern borders and along coastal regions to help catch drug traffickers and undocumented migrants sneaking into the country, and apparently wants to be ready to buy more drones if and when Congress gives it the green light,” the watchdog group wrote.
A recent Congressional report predicts that the number of drones in the domestic skies could reach 30,000 in the next 20 years, according to California Watch.
