El Paso International Airport
Texas regional airport. In early February 2026 the faa imposed a sudden TFR around the airport citing a purported cartel drone; per Rep. gabe-vasquez, the incident was actually caused by DoD / FAA / DHS miscommunication during unapproved C-UAS testing in protected airspace.
Breaking Defense (src-northcom-southern-border-counter-drone-sandbox-2026-05) adds specificity: the closure resulted from the DoD firing a counter-drone laser system, which closed the airport and surrounding airspace for several hours. The episode prompted an faa/DoD assessment (~April 2026) that subsequently cleared high-energy laser C-UAS for border use as not posing “undue risk to passenger aircraft.”