8 February 2023. The Biden administration is reportedly significantly reducing the number of aerostats, or balloons, used to monitor the southern border, citing a lack of funding. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reportedly had 12 aerostats along the southern border last year, but only four remain, all in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. The Department of Defense had agreed to spend $52 million to operate the aerostats through the end of the 2022 fiscal year after the Department of Homeland Security cut funding for the program, but this funding is now gone, and authorities are phasing out most of the balloons along the border. The CBP spokesperson confirmed that while the number of aerostats deployed would be reduced, the agency will continue to use surveillance technology and explore new technology to increase surveillance of the border region, and will continue to invest in aerostats and plans to expand deployments to coastal border regions. However, several sources warn that the loss of the aerostats would have an immediate negative impact on border security, and that cartels and smugglers would take advantage of this. Source: Fox News