Drones to man US border with Mexico

The US government has begun using unmanned drones to monitor the entire south west border with Mexico in an attempt to tighten border security.

General Michael Kostelnik, of the US Customs and Border Protection, said, "Our long term our vision is that we will bring aircraft and train pilots and create the infrastructure to support these systems, we plan ultimately to cover the entire US border with this capability."

Illegal immigration and security along the border with Mexico has become of more interest because of the Democrats' control of Congress is on the line in the mid-term elections.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said earlier this week Customs and Border Protection would begin flying a drone out of Texas, extending the reach of the the agency's unmanned surveillance aircraft across the length of the 2,000 mile border with Mexico.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama signed a $600 million bill that would fund some 1,500 new Border Patrol agents, customs inspectors and other law enforcement officials along the border, as well as paying for two more unmanned drones.

The drones can carry equipment including sophisticated day and night vision cameras that operators use to detect drug and human smugglers, and can stay aloft for up to 30 hours at a time.