At about 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 10, 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration stopped all flights in and out of El Paso International Airport, citing “special security reasons.” The restriction covered roughly a 10-mile radius, including nearby Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and was set to run until Feb. 20. Pilots who ignored it, the FAA warned, could be intercepted. El Paso has nearly 700,000 residents, and no one there was told in advance.

Hours later the FAA lifted the order. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA and the Department of War had acted swiftly against a cartel drone incursion and that the threat had been neutralized.

Reporting by the AP, NPR, CNN and The New York Times told a different story. The Pentagon had let Customs and Border Protection use a high-energy counter-drone laser near Fort Bliss before the FAA signed off; the agencies were set to meet Feb. 20 to review the risks to civilian flights. A senior FAA lawyer had warned for days that the airspace would be closed if the uncoordinated tests continued. When CBP fired at what it took for a cartel drone, the target was reportedly a mylar party balloon. Reuters identified the laser as the Army’s LOCUST system.

Mayor Renard Johnson said the shutdown sowed chaos and confusion. Flights were canceled and medical flights diverted. Two weeks later, a laser shut Texas airspace again.