U.S. Representative Jimmy Gomez has introduced a bill to try to limit the use of military-style drones by federal law enforcement to monitor public demonstrations after it was revealed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was using “Predator”-type drones to record some of the protests that stemmed from the government’s aggressive immigration enforcement last month.
Gomez, who represents the 34th District that includes downtown LA and many surrounding communities and has been an opponent of recent immigration enforcement efforts, said the use of these types of drones to monitor protests was inappropriate and shouldn’t be allowed.
“This is meant to intimidate. This is meant to surveil, to do surveillance of individuals engaged in protest,” he told NBCLA this week.
“It’s not like they’re being used in a manhunt. It’s strictly to see and surveil who is actually participating in these protests, and that could have a chilling effect when it comes to people’s right to free speech and the right to assemble,” he said.
The DHS drones were first noticed by only aviation enthusiasts and trackers in early June after the drones flew through airspace in Arizona – while traveling to and from LA – and used callsigns reserved for DHS aircraft.
Later, public flight data captured the drones’ signature hexagonal flight paths over Downtown and other areas in Southern California.
The Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, which operates the drones and other surveillance aircraft, did not immediately provide comment but said its legislative analysts would review the bill next week.
Flight tracking data showed DHS also flew high-altitude surveillance missions with conventional airplanes and helicopters, which carry nearly identical cameras and sensors.
Gomez said the use of the drones was uniquely disturbing, and introduced the measure, HR4759, to limit their use by DHS to its core missions of border security and smuggling interdiction.
“They have legitimate uses,” he said. “But I don’t believe in the use of these drones for surveilling a protest, no matter if you disagree with what they’re protesting about, they shouldn’t be used for those purposes.”