Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano has confirmed plans for the United States to deploy unmanned Predator drones to patrol the US-Mexico border in Texas. The United States currently has four drones patrolling the border with Mexico in Arizona and one in the northern border with Canada in the state of North Dakota. Napolitano made the announcement during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Janet Napolitano: “I’m also proud to announce today that the Federal Aviation Administration has approved the use of CBP unmanned aircraft system flights along the Texas border and in the Gulf region…These types of flights aren’t useful everywhere, but in some places they’re part of the right mix of infrastructure, manpower and technology that improves border security.”

Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano also unveiled new plans to increase government surveillance along the border by developing a system to begin photographing the license plates of every vehicle.

Janet Napolitano: “We’re partnering with the Office of National Drug Control Policy to implement Project Roadrunner, an automated license-plate recognition system. Project Roadrunner was conceived to target both north- and southbound drug trafficking and associated illegal activity along the Southwest border.”