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A Democratic congressman made a comparison on Friday between the balloon being flown over the U.S. by the Chinese communist regime, and the move by the Department of Homeland Security to fly blimps over over the Arizona border to monitor smuggling and trafficking along the southern border.
"People are outraged by a Chinese surveillance balloon, but when @DHSgov puts up a surveillance blimp in Arizona border communities without community consultation," Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., tweeted, followed by a silenced emoji and a "sssh" emoji.
He later edited the tweet to clarify that people are "rightfully" outraged.
Grijalva’s tweet came as the balloon, which Chinese officials have claimed is a civilian craft that went adrift, remained over the continental U.S. at approximately 60,000 feet.
The Biden administration has condemned the balloon, canceling a planned trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing and calling it a "clear violation of our sovereignty, as well as international law."
The Democratic congressman, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, compared the craft to the operation of tethered aerostat blimps operated by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Those blimps are used by authorities along the border -- including in Texas and Arizona -- to counter drug and human trafficking and other forms of smuggling.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/de...balloon-dhs-blimp-monitoring-us-mexico-border
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So this Democrat Representative compare a Chinese SPY balloon to Department of Homeland Security blimps tethered on the border. There were 12 "eye in the sky" blimps . They are the most effective tool the CBP has to see illegal crossings of out border. They allow CBP to see illegal immigrants and got aways and also fentanyl smugglers. Under the Biden administration funding has been decreased for the blimps and as of January 1 2023 and now only 4 are flying.
The Chinese balloon was here to weaken the US defenses. The DHS blimps are the protect against deadly fentanyl and illegal crossings including crossings of potential terrorists and criminals. This shows us how Democrat representatives think. The Biden administration has made us less safe by grounding 2/3rds of our blimps and by allowing the balloon to fly completely across our country before it was shot down.
"People are outraged by a Chinese surveillance balloon, but when @DHSgov puts up a surveillance blimp in Arizona border communities without community consultation," Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., tweeted, followed by a silenced emoji and a "sssh" emoji.
He later edited the tweet to clarify that people are "rightfully" outraged.
Grijalva’s tweet came as the balloon, which Chinese officials have claimed is a civilian craft that went adrift, remained over the continental U.S. at approximately 60,000 feet.
The Biden administration has condemned the balloon, canceling a planned trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing and calling it a "clear violation of our sovereignty, as well as international law."
The Democratic congressman, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, compared the craft to the operation of tethered aerostat blimps operated by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Those blimps are used by authorities along the border -- including in Texas and Arizona -- to counter drug and human trafficking and other forms of smuggling.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/de...balloon-dhs-blimp-monitoring-us-mexico-border
========================
So this Democrat Representative compare a Chinese SPY balloon to Department of Homeland Security blimps tethered on the border. There were 12 "eye in the sky" blimps . They are the most effective tool the CBP has to see illegal crossings of out border. They allow CBP to see illegal immigrants and got aways and also fentanyl smugglers. Under the Biden administration funding has been decreased for the blimps and as of January 1 2023 and now only 4 are flying.
The Chinese balloon was here to weaken the US defenses. The DHS blimps are the protect against deadly fentanyl and illegal crossings including crossings of potential terrorists and criminals. This shows us how Democrat representatives think. The Biden administration has made us less safe by grounding 2/3rds of our blimps and by allowing the balloon to fly completely across our country before it was shot down.
