FAA grounds FOX News drone documenting illegal immigrants

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over the city of Del Rio, TX for “special security reasons.” The TFR grounded a FOX drone that was used to document the more than 10,000 illegal immigrants that are waiting for asylum under the Del Rio International Bridge.

Updated: The FAA released a statement on 9/17 saying that FOXNews had applied that morning and has received clearance to operate from now until the end of September in the restricted airspace below.

FAA grounds FOX News drone documenting illegal immigrants

According to the Mayor of Del Rio, there are 10,503 migrants under the bridge as of Thursday, reports the NY Post. FOX News used a drone to report on the chaos, which has now been grounded due to the TFR being in effect.

Bill Melguin, a Fox News national correspondent, said that the timing and location of the TFR to be “a little bit curious,” as the news organization has been using drones in the area for the last seven months.

Faa Grounds Fox News Drone Documenting Illegal Immigrants

The FAA said in a statement the following:

“The Border Patrol requested the due to drones interfering with law enforcement flights on the border. As with any temporary flight restriction, media is able to call the FAA to make requests to operate in the area.”

The migrants come from such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, even though the majority come from Haiti. The US Border Patrol has issued tickets to let them know when they will be processed. Some migrants have been camping out under the bridge for as long as five days as they await their turn.

At the end of this video, Tucker Carlson says that he hopes that FOX News “ignores the FAA as they have no right to shut down newsgathering. They don't own the news.”

Updated information from the FAA

The FAA released a statement on 9/17 saying that FOXNews had applied that morning and has received clearance to operate from now until the end of September in the restricted airspace below.

Faa Grounds Fox News Drone Documenting Illegal Immigrants 1

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Faa Grounds Fox News Drone Documenting Illegal Immigrants 2

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Haye Kesteloo
Haye Kesteloo

Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Founder of DroneXL.co, where he covers all drone-related news, DJI rumors and writes drone reviews, and EVXL.co, for all news related to electric vehicles. He is also a co-host of the PiXL Drone Show on YouTube and other podcast platforms. Haye can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo.

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