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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 18th, 2025:CIA Reaper Drones Over Mexico & Border Crossings Collapse
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Mike Baker
It's Tuesday, the 18th of February. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll start things off with a major escalation in the fight against the cartels. According to reports, President Trump has the CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency, flying covert drone missions over Mexico using the same Reaper drones deployed in the war on terror. Later in the show, migrant shelters that once housed nearly a thousand people a day are now nearly empty as Trump's border crackdown sharply reduces border crossings. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. In the latest indication that the Trump administration is taking the fight to the drug cartels, the CIA has been flying covert drone missions deep inside Mexico. Now, these flights, carried out by what are known as MQ9 Reaper drones, mark a significant shift in US counternarcotics operations. And they've been happening under the radar without public acknowledgment from either Washington or Mexico City. Now, credit where it's due, CNN first broke this story citing sources familiar with the program. But let's take a step back and look at this from the 30,000 foot level or whatever altitude the drones are flying. For years, the US has fought the cartels indirectly through partnerships with Mexican authorities, DEA led investigations and law enforcement operations along the southern border. But now, under the new U.S. administration, we're seeing a clear effort to treat these cartels more like terrorist organizations. And as we reported here on the pdb, Trump officially designated them as foreign terrorist organizations in one of his first acts as president. And that designation is already reshaping US strategy. Here's what we know. The CIA's drones are currently unarmed. These are the MQ9 Reapers, the same ones used for precision strikes against ISIS and al Qaeda. The MQ9 Reaper can be armed with a variety of precision weapons, including Hellfire missiles, laser guided bombs, and the GPS guided joint direct attack munition, or jdam, as you may have heard it called. The drone is designed for both surveillance and strike missions, and it's been a key asset in U.S. counterterrorism operations, capable of targeting enemy combatants with pinpoint accuracy. Now, the drones are being deployed purely for surveillance for now at least. But the fact that they can be armed, well, that raises serious questions about what could come next. We've previously reported on U. S. Spy planes being used along the border to track cartel movements, but this is the first time we hearing about COVID missions inside Mexico. The administration notified Congress through a classified process reserved for operations that the CIA intends to conceal or deny. And notably, there's no mention of any coordination with the Mexican government. And that's a major shift from past joint efforts. Now, the timing here is important. The Trump administration has already made it clear that it's willing to use counterterrorism tactics against the cartels. In fact, just last month, when signing an executive order ramping up those efforts, Trump was asked about sending special forces into Mexico. His response? Well, it was, quote, could happen. Stranger things have happened, end quote. That's ambiguous. So how's Mexico reacting to all of this? Well, so far it's been. I suppose you could describe it as a mix of silence and unease. Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum and other top officials have been quick to emphasize that American military surveillance flights along the border have remained in international airspace. But when asked about reports of these covert CIA drone missions flown inside Mexican airspace, Mexico's defense minister admitted he wasn't aware of them. He also suggested, rather bluntly that he couldn't rule out espionage. Meanwhile, Mexico's foreign ministry hasn't responded at all. This puts Sheinbaum's government in a tough spot. Publicly, they can't afford to be seen as allowing the US to operate freely inside their borders. Privately, though, Mexico's leadership knows that they're struggling to contain the cartels and that American intelligence on cartel movements and activities, well, is incredibly valuable. So you ask what happens next? Well, I'm glad you asked. With a terrorist designation already in place, the legal and strategic groundwork is there for more aggressive military style operations. And if these CIA drone missions are just the beginning, well, we could be looking at a dramatic escalation in how the U. S. Wages its war on drugs, which, frankly, could be good given that the past few wars on drugs didn't really go all that well. Coming up next, migrant shelters that once took in nearly a thousand people per day are now nearly empty as Trump's border shutdown leaves some of those centers on the brink of closing. I'll be right back. This podcast is brought to you in part by Stash. Now, saving and investing can seem impossible. But with Stash, well, it's not just possible, it's easy. Stash, you see, isn't just an investing app. It's a registered investment advisor that combines automated investing with dependable financial strategies to help you reach your goals faster. They'll provide you with personalized advice on what to invest in based on your goals. Or if you want to just sit back and watch your money go to work, you can opt into their award winning expert managed portfolio that picks the stocks for you. Stash has helped millions of Americans reach their financial goals and starts at just $3 per month. So don't let your savings just sit around. Make your money work harder for you. Go to get.stash.com PDB to see how you can receive $25 through towards your first stock purchase and a few important disclosures. That's get.stash.com Pdb now. This is a paid non client endorsement not representative of all clients and not a guarantee. Investment advisory services offered by Stash Investments LLC and SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Investing involves risk offer is subject terms and conditions welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. Evidence continues to mount that the Trump administration's border crackdown is reshaping the immigration landscape. Migrant shelters along the Texas Mexico border, once overwhelmed with nearly a thousand arrivals per day, are now nearly empty as sweeping policies have drastically reduced crossings, forcing some shelters to close their doors. Since January, the Trump administration has effectively sealed the border to asylum seekers, allowing only a handful of exceptions. The impact has been immediate and dramatic. Shelters, once at the breaking point under the Biden administration, are now struggling to justify their existence, and many expect to close by the end of the month. In the border town of McAllen, for example, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley has seen arrivals at its respite center collapse from more than 3,000 in January to fewer than 12 daily this month. At the current pace, the center will process fewer than 350 migrants in February. The few who do arrive are typically dropped off by U.S. customs and Border Protection after processing and handed a notice to appear at immigration court and then sent on their way. Annunciation House, a network of shelters in El Paso, has seen a similar nosedive. Where there were Once more than 20 shelters in operation, only four remain. The total number of migrants in its care? Well, that's only about 40. Director Ruben Garcia expects that number to fall further, possibly forcing more locations to close by month's end, leaving just one or two operational. Garcia noted that migrant numbers had already been slipping due to Mexico's stricter immigration enforcement, but President Trump's immigration crackdown dramatically accelerated the decline. Even before the election, daily arrivals at Annunciation House had fallen to between 250 and 300. That's low, but nothing like what's happening now. Across Texas, shelters are scaling back. In El Paso, one facility closed its doors in September. The Migrant Resource center in San Antonio stopped accepting new arrivals just last week. And in McAllen, Catholic Charities has already begun cutting staff even before federal funding cuts further strained its operations. On 30 January, Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Rio Grande Valley Catholic Charities, received word that the center would no longer receive federal funding from the shelter and services program. Now, that program was first established during Trump's first term to reimburse local and state governments and nonprofits for emergency migrant aid. Despite the funding cut, Pimentel insists the center will continue providing aid, even if it's now only to five or ten migrants a day. But as the Trump administration presses forward on its pledge to secure the southern border, how long that remains feasible? Well, that's an open question. And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon bulletin for Tuesday, the 18th of February. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@the firsttv.com and as you may have already read in the gossip pages, to listen to the show ad free. Become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief simply by visiting PDB premium.com It really is that simple. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. It.