MQ-9 Predator Drones Monitor US Protesters for First Time Since 2020

The Department of Homeland Security deployed MQ-9 Predator drones over Los Angeles anti-ICE protests in June 2025, marking the first time since 2020 that military-grade surveillance aircraft have monitored domestic demonstrations on U.S. soil. The deployment represents a significant departure from longstanding government policy against flying such drones over protests due to First Amendment concerns.

Customs and Border Protection confirmed the flights after aviation trackers detected MQ-9 Reaper drones flying hexagonal surveillance patterns over downtown Los Angeles starting June 7, 2025. The drones continued monitoring protests for at least four additional days following massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the city.

Policy Shift Raises Constitutional Questions

The last time DHS authorized Predator drone surveillance over domestic protests was during the Minneapolis demonstrations following George Floyd’s killing by police in May 2020. That deployment drew immediate criticism from civil liberties organizations and Democratic lawmakers, and the practice appeared to end until now.

“This rogue agency’s use of military technology to surveil protesters inside U.S. borders is deeply disturbing, especially given CBP’s lack of clear and strong policies to protect privacy and constitutional rights,” ACLU senior legislative counsel Neema Singh Guliani said in 2020 – criticism that has resurfaced with renewed intensity regarding the Los Angeles flights.

The drones operated by CBP’s Air and Marine Operations unit fly at approximately 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) and can track targets within a 15-nautical-mile (27.7-kilometer) radius. According to The War Zone, the aircraft are equipped with cutting-edge infrared heat sensors and high-definition video cameras capable of providing real-time feeds to multiple government agencies including ICE and the military.

Advanced Surveillance Technology Deployed Domestically

The MQ-9 Predator drones utilize an artificial intelligence program called Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar (VaDER) to detect small objects. According to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, the infrared sensors can identify heat signatures even inside buildings – capable of detecting humans, rabbits, or birds in flight.

In military terminology, “MQ” designates the drone’s capabilities and function – “M” indicating multi-use, and “Q” signifying it’s an unmanned aerial vehicle. The Predator B, also known as the MQ-9 Reaper in its military variant, was originally designed for combat zones and has been used to conduct strikes in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia.

DHS posted drone footage on social media platform X with dramatic music and the caption: “This is not calm. This is not peaceful. California politicians must call off their rioting mob.” The footage showed vehicles on fire and windows being smashed during the protests, though CBP told media outlets the drones were “providing officer safety surveillance” and were “not engaged in the surveillance of First Amendment activities.”

Congressional Response and Legislative Action

Representative Jimmy Gomez (D-California) introduced the Ban Military Drones Spying on Civilians Act (H.R. 4759) in July 2025 in direct response to the Los Angeles deployments. The legislation would prohibit the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and other executive agencies from using military drones to surveil protesters.

“My bill to ban military surveillance drones over our cities puts Trump and his administration in check,” Gomez stated. “This is not just about Los Angeles; this affects the entire country. I refuse to allow Trump to use these weapons of war, capable of carrying bombs, as tools for law enforcement against civilians.”

The bill is currently in the House Judiciary Committee. In September, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a resolution endorsing Gomez’s legislation.

“Los Angeles will not stand by while the federal government turns weapons of war against our residents,” said Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who introduced the resolution. “Spying on people engaged in peaceful protest is unconstitutional, dangerous, and a direct attack on democracy.”

From Border Operations to Domestic Surveillance

The Predator drones were first deployed to the U.S. southern border in 2005 and retrofitted for surveillance operations. Homeland Security uses them to patrol the 2,000-mile (3,218-kilometer) U.S.-Mexico border from four bases, including Fort Huachuca in Arizona – located just one hour south of Tucson.

While drones are requested by law enforcement for various purposes including monitoring forest fires and providing surveillance for major events like the Super Bowl, the use of military-grade Predators over political protests remains highly controversial.

“It is tested in war zones, the border, tested in cities along the border, and tested in the interior of the country,” said Dave Maass, director of investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy rights organization. “That tends to be the trajectory we see.”

Five Democrats on the House Oversight Committee called the Los Angeles deployment a “gross abuse of authority” and requested Homeland Security explain what had occurred.

Technology Mission Creep

With declining migrant crossings at the southern border, experts anticipate drones will increasingly be deployed for domestic surveillance operations.

“If somebody in the Trump administration decides there’s a need to use drones in the interior over U.S. citizens, resources won’t be an issue,” said Adam Isaacson, who covers national security for the Washington Office of Latin America, a human rights research group. “Because there’s just not that much to monitor at the border.”

The deployment represents what privacy advocates call “mission creep” – technology initially justified for one purpose being gradually expanded to other uses without proper oversight or public debate. The practice raises fundamental questions about the militarization of domestic law enforcement and the erosion of constitutional protections.

DroneXL’s Take

The deployment of MQ-9 Predators over domestic protests represents a dangerous precedent that should concern every drone operator, pilot, and aviation professional in America. This isn’t about border security or counter-terrorism – this is about the government turning weapons of war inward to monitor Americans exercising their constitutional rights.

The technology trajectory here is unmistakable and alarming. Military drones designed for foreign battlefields migrate to border enforcement, then to “interior operations,” and now to political surveillance. Each step is justified as temporary or necessary, yet the mission keeps expanding while oversight shrinks.

For the drone community, this raises critical questions about our own operations. If the government claims authority to fly military surveillance drones over protesters without meaningful restrictions, what precedent does that set for regulating commercial and recreational drone flights? When authorities argue that sophisticated aerial surveillance is necessary for “public safety” at protests, how long before similar justifications are used to restrict civilian drone operations near any government activity?

The First Amendment implications extend beyond protesters to drone journalists and operators. If CBP can surveil thousands of people from 20,000 feet using infrared cameras that see through buildings, the chilling effect on newsgathering and documentation is profound. The same technology that tracks protesters today could be used to identify and monitor drone pilots covering newsworthy events tomorrow.

We support legitimate law enforcement uses of drone technology for search and rescue, disaster response, and genuine public safety needs. But flying Predator drones – aircraft capable of carrying 3,000 pounds of ordnance – over political demonstrations crosses a bright line from security into intimidation. Representative Gomez’s legislation deserves support not as a partisan issue, but as a fundamental check on government overreach.

The broader lesson: once surveillance capabilities are deployed, they rarely get rolled back. The 2020 Minneapolis flights were supposed to be an aberration. Now they’re back, and likely expanding. The drone industry must stand firmly against this mission creep before the restrictions and suspicions applied to military surveillance drones start getting applied to all of us.

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