WILL EYE IN THE SKY OVER TEXAS EVER SHIFT ITS GAZE TO MEXICO?

Without leaving American skies, remotely piloted surveillance drones,
outfitted with cameras that provide real-time video, fly along the
Texas border searching U.S. territory for drug smugglers, undocumented
immigrants and potential terrorists.

They also are fully capable of peering into Mexico, where narco
terrorists eviscerate the rule of law.

But does the U.S. government ever risk the international fallout of
using the aircraft's high-tech surveillance abilities to take a peek
south of the border "" or share what they see with Mexican
counterparts fighting for their lives?

The American public likely will never know.

"Officially, no," said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, whose district hugs
the Texas-Mexico border. "I will leave it at that."

Thanks in part to Cuellar's efforts, a Predator B in September began
patrolling the skies from Big Bend National Park to the Gulf of
Mexico. He concedes it would be simple to use planes flying over U.S.
soil as front-row seats at the edge of Mexico.

"When they are flying at 19,000 feet and have those highly
sophisticated cameras, all they have to do is shift it slightly and
you can see into Mexico," said Cuellar, who in 2010 was appointed
chairman of a House Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global
Counterterrorism.

Demonstration imagery released by Customs and Border Protection, which
operates the drones, shows that even nearly 5 miles away, and 4 miles
up in the sky, cameras can make out the color of pants and shirts of
people on the ground.

Who sees the video?

It is unclear who gets to see the video, aside from CBP. Border Patrol
agents working the front lines don't see it, nor does the Texas
Department of Public Safety, which has taken an increasing role in
border security.

Officials concede that the program is so new that such matters are
being fine-tuned.

CBP has six Predator birds. They each come as part of $18.5 million
packages that include a mobile ground-control station and sensors.

They each weigh 5 tons, are wider than five lanes of interstate
highway, and can stay up for 20 hours "" enough time to fly the
entire 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border on one tank of gas.

Exactly where they fly is classified.

The agency steps gingerly around Mexico surveillance.

"We have not received any direct requests by the government of Mexico
to keep an eye on their territory," said Gina Gray, a CBP
spokeswoman.

She confirmed Predators can see into Mexico, but that is not their
mission.

She wouldn't discuss whether the planes had flown counter-narcotics
missions over Mexico, saying Mexico should answer questions about its
airspace.

The office of Mexican President Felipe Calderon declined
comment.

A drone did fly over Mexican territory in 2009, with the permission of
the Mexican government, in order to help search for the killers of
Border Patrol agent Robert Rosas, who was shot in Southern California.

Mexico is being ravaged by fighting between drug cartels as well as
against military and police. More than 30,000 people have died since
2006, and the mayhem includes killing politicians and taking over towns.

Hundreds of residents of Ciudad Mier, just minutes from Roma, Texas,
became refugees recently as they fled gangster violence. The police
station was riddled with gunfire and burned, as were new police cars
out front.

"We are really getting to a critical point here where Mexico has to
make a decision," Cuellar said of sensitivities of U.S. involvement.
"Do they want to preserve their civil institutions which are under
attack?

Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the Drug
Enforcement Administration, said drones used by the military work well
hunting terrorists in the open terrain of Afghanistan, but similar
aircraft would have a tough time in Mexico, where criminal violence is
not as discernible.

Fast response iffy

Even if cartel activity was spotted, information would be nearly
useless if there wasn't a way to quickly share with Mexico and trigger
a fast response on the ground, said Vigil, now executive director of
Man Tech International, which provides technology to the U.S. government.

Although U.S. narcotics agents have long been in Mexico, there has
also long been public outrage at anything more intrusive.

"We have come a long way in terms of cooperation, but there are areas
that still test Mexico's traditional notions of sovereignty," said
Tony Garza, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico.