The abrupt closure of airspace over El Paso last week left travelers scrambling and prompted lawmakers to demand answers after new details emerged about how counter-drone activity and aviation safety decisions were coordinated. According to two people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity, the Pentagon permitted U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser this week near Fort Bliss before the FAA shut down commercial air traffic over the city.
In the timeline described by those people, the FAA first announced it would close all air traffic over El Paso for 10 days, a move that stranded some travelers but ultimately lasted only a few hours. The Trump administration said the step was part of efforts by the FAA and the Pentagon to stop what officials characterized as a drone incursion by a Mexican cartel, a threat that is described as common along the southern border.
One person said the laser was deployed near Fort Bliss without coordination with the FAA, prompting the aviation agency to close the airspace to protect commercial flights. Other people familiar with the matter said the technology was used despite a scheduled meeting at the end of the month between the Pentagon and the FAA to evaluate the issue, underscoring competing timelines between defense technology use and aviation authorities’ planning.
After the closure was lifted, flights resumed with normal operations. The disruption included the cancellation of seven arriving flights and seven departing flights, and some medical evacuation flights were diverted. The airspace restriction attracted attention because even a brief shutdown of an entire airport’s operations is described as unusual, particularly given how quickly people on both sides of the border were affected.
El Paso officials and federal lawmakers criticized the lack of notice and questioned the explanation the public received. The Associated Press reported that El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said he did not learn about the closure until after the alert was issued, and he argued that decisions made without advance coordination put lives at risk and generated unnecessary danger and confusion. “Las decisiones tomadas sin aviso ni coordinación ponen vidas en riesgo y crean peligro y confusión innecesarios”, Johnson said.
Federal lawmakers also weighed in. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat and former Army helicopter pilot who sits on aviation and defense-related committees, said the episode reflected what she called endemic coordination failures in the Trump administration. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican who leads the Senate Commerce Committee, said he would request a briefing from the FAA about the incident. Sen. Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, said her office and local officials were not warned ahead of time and, after the closure was canceled, said “la información que proviene del gobierno federal no cuadra.” Escobar added that the FAA owes the community and the country an explanation for why the closure happened so suddenly and then ended so abruptly.
The administration’s Transportation Department said the airspace closed while the Department of Defense and the FAA addressed the drone threat and that the danger had been “neutralized,” but the FAA, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment at the time of the report. A Trump administration official also insisted agencies were aligned to protect national security, while the Pentagon said it had nothing further to add beyond its statement.
Border drone activity itself is not new, lawmakers said, describing frequent drone sightings and noting that U.S. officials have previously warned about how cartels use unmanned devices. Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district covers part of the Texas-Mexico border, said the incursions are routine for people living and working along the frontier and called it “un miércoles normal” for them. The report also cited testimony from Steven Willoughby, described as the deputy director of a counter-drone program at the Department of Homeland Security, telling legislators in July that cartels use drones nearly every day to transport drugs and to watch Border Patrol agents; it said more than 27,000 drones were detected within 500 meters of the southern border over the last six months of 2024, mostly at night.
Mexican officials challenged the U.S. narrative. President Claudia Sheinbaum said there was “no hay ninguna información” about drone use on the border, and she said if U.S. authorities had information, they should contact Mexico. She also said Mexico’s Defense and Navy secretaries planned to speak with U.S. Northern Command officials in a Washington meeting with representatives of several other countries, where Mexican officials would “listen” and work to determine “las causas exactas” of what she called the closure.
Alongside the federal and cross-border questions, individual travelers described the chaos that followed. One traveler, María Aracelia, told reporters she received a text message about the 10-day closure at 4 a.m. as she tried to travel from Ciudad Juárez to El Paso for a trip scheduled for later that day, then later received notice that the airport had reopened, leaving little time to adjust plans. Another passenger, Jorge Rueda, said he was glad the 10 days became two hours, after his flight to Portland was canceled. Similar disruptions affected passengers waiting at airline and rental counters as the airspace shutdown unfolded and then ended within hours.
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Kim, Finley, Jalonick and Toropin reported from Washington. Josh Funk, Jim Vertuno, Darlene Superville, Mike Balsamo, Kathy McCormack, María Verza, and Christian Torres Chávez contributed to the dispatch from their respective locations. This story was translated from English by an Associated Press editor with help from a generative AI tool.