In recent months, unidentified drones have been spotted flying near U.S. military installations and critical infrastructure, posing a significant national security threat. These unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have highlighted a glaring vulnerability in our defense apparatus.

Yet the Biden-Harris administration’s Department of Homeland Security has done little to address this emerging danger. Under Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s leadership, the DHS is failing to prioritize counter-UAS technology. Considering the department’s disastrous handling of illegal immigration, though, it’s hardly surprising.

As someone who has served at both the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security, I can tell you this: the drone threat can’t be ignored. If DHS continues on its current path of complacency, the consequences could be devastating.

Unmanned aerial systems have evolved into powerful tools for espionage, intelligence gathering, and even direct attacks. Recent reports show drones hovering near naval shipyards, military bases, and civilian infrastructure—areas critical to national security.

These incidents are not isolated; they’re a growing trend. Foreign actors—adversarial governments—are potentially testing our defenses.

These brazen actions should have triggered a swift and decisive response from the DHS. The technology exists to counter these threats, and the legal authority to act was handed to the department on a silver platter through the 2018 Preventing Emerging Threats Act as part of the FAA reauthorization. But here we are, several years later, and the DHS has yet to roll out a comprehensive counter-UAS strategy.

This failure is indicative of the leadership vacuum at the department under Mayorkas. The same lack of urgency we see at the border, where illegal crossings have hit record highs and terrorists and criminals cross freely, is now playing out in the skies. If the DHS can’t handle the immediate threat of unauthorized drones, how can it be trusted to secure the nation from more complex, emerging threats?

Congress acknowledged that the drone threat was too big for any one federal agency to handle alone. So, when it reauthorized the FAA, it gave the DHS the authority to detect, track, and mitigate UAS threats. It even allowed for the creation of pilot programs to empower state and local law enforcement to combat these threats on the ground.

Yet, the DHS has done almost nothing to fulfill this mandate. Where are the pilot programs? Why haven’t state and local law enforcement agencies been equipped with the tools they need to protect our communities? The resources are there. The authorization is in place. However, the DHS leadership has chosen not to act. This failure to use the tools at their disposal is simply unacceptable.

This inaction doesn’t just put military installations at risk; it leaves critical civilian infrastructure—power plants, airports, and public spaces—open to surveillance or attack. The Department of Defense has the authority to take down UASs near military bases if they are considered a threat to national security. Yet for seventeen days last December, drones penetrated restricted airspace over national security facilities without being targeted. Why?

The parallels between the border crisis and the drone issue are striking. In both cases, the DHS has had ample time and resources to act, and in both cases, it has fallen woefully short. The American people cannot afford this kind of ineptitude from their frontline defense agency. The DHS is supposed to be forward-leaning, proactive, and ready to meet emerging threats. Instead, under Secretary Mayorkas, the department is perpetually mismanaging crises after they explode.

The drone threat isn’t going away. It’s growing, and the DHS has the tools to respond. The FAA reauthorization provides a clear roadmap for us to mount a robust defense, but whether due to incompetence, bureaucratic inertia, or simple indifference, the DHS has ignored it.

The Biden-Harris administration has chosen to ignore emerging threats—whether from the skies or across the borders. The American people deserve better.

About the Author

Brian Cavanaugh, a Visiting Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, served as a senior director on the National Security Council and an executive director at the Department of Homeland Security.

Image: Shutterstock.com.