Published January 14, 2009

People who live near the Canadian border have long grown used to an extra branch of law enforcement.  The U.S. Border Patrol, a federal force, prowls the roads looking for people and things that have been smuggled into the country.

And while they’re at it, Border Patrol agents are happy — and legally entitled — to turn evidence of routine, domestic crime over to state and local police forces.

Sometime in the future, that federal presence will become three-dimensional.  The Border Patrol is about to put its first drone aircraft to work over the border between the state of North Dakota and the province of Alberta.  Called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by the federal government, the aircraft can stay aloft for up to 23 hours without landing to refuel or change pilots.  The “pilots” are on the ground, flying and observing via remote controls.

The aircraft typically operate at altitudes from 19,000 to 29,000 feet, says Border Patrol spokesman Juan Muñoz-Torres.  And, Mr. Muñoz-Torres said Tuesday from his Washington, D.C., office, they can spot a person on the ground at a distance of 20 miles.

As of now, Mr. Muñoz-Torres said, the drone is only authorized to cover from 250 to 300 miles along the Canadian border above North Dakota.  The 33-foot-long Predator B aircraft arrived at Grand Forks in December, and should be flying by the end of January or early February, the spokesman said.

But, he added, “our strategic plan is to have them all along the northern border.  We would like to be able in future to fly along the whole northern border.”

Drone aircraft have been patrolling the southern border with Mexico since 2005, Mr. Muñoz-Torres said.  One crashed in 2006, near a house, but without doing injury or property damage.  The Border Patrol says drones on the southern border have helped lead to the discovery of more than 18,000 pounds of marijuana and 4,000 illegal immigrants.

In testimony before a Congressional committee in January 2008, the Border Patrol’s deputy chief, Ronald Colburn, noted that the number of illegal “border penetrations” on the U.S.-Canada border is less than 1 percent of those on the U.S.-Mexico border.

But, he added, “the vastness and remoteness of the area along with the unique socio-economic ties between the United States and Canada,” and severe weather all work to limit the Border Patrol’s effectiveness.

More manpower, Mr. Colburn testified, “as well as acquisition and deployment of sensing and monitoring platforms as well as unmanned aerial vehicles will be the key to the Border Patrol’s ability to effectively address the Northern Border threat situation.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Muñoz-Torres addressed any public concern that such high-flying drones would be spying on law-abiding people.

“The use of unmanned aircraft is the same use any other law enforcement aircraft would be performing,” he said.  “The public concerns are the same whether the aircraft are manned or unmanned.  The aircraft’s missions are related to the detection of illicit traffic in both directions along the northern border — drugs, aliens, any type of illicit operation.

“The purpose of the aircraft is to provide surveillance to detect illegal operations,” Mr. Muñoz-Torres said.  “It you’re not doing anything illegal, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

The citizen who drew the Chronicle’s attention to the impending drones does not agree.

“I don’t subscribe to the view that if you don’t have anything to hide, you shouldn’t object,” said Francis Douglas, who lives in the border community of North Troy.

“The Constitution may not say anything about drones,” Mr. Douglas said Tuesday, “but we have a long history of saying that men, women and children can come and go as they please; that unless they’ve violated some law they should be free of surveillance, harassment, and any other government intrusion into their lives.”

People should know the drones are coming, said Mr. Douglas, who plans to go to the American Civil Liberties Union and Vermont’s Congressional delegation to try and get them stopped.

He fears that the high-flying, highly sophisticated aircraft will be a far greater threat to privacy than the helicopters that already fly over the area looking for marijuana patches.

Mr. Douglas worries about people who indulge in harmless but potentially embarrassing activities, like having sex on the patio.

“Information on people is real power over them,” he said.  “Gathering information from a Predator plane goes to the nth degree.

“I’m a former Marine.  I volunteered and served in Korea.  I’m proud of my record.  But our government is out of control.”