New York implements advanced system to detect drones as officials acknowledge foreign influence

Alejandro Mayorkas’ Department of Homeland Security is set to deploy drone detection systems to New Jersey and New York after weeks of drone sightings across the region. 

Both Mayorkas and New York Governor Kathy Hochul confirmed the plans, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – who represents New York – made the request Sunday.

Hochul wrote: ‘In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are sending a drone detection system to New York.’

‘I am grateful for the support, but we need more. Congress must pass a law that will give us the power to deal directly with the drones,’ she warned. 

Mayorkas, who confirmed the federal government does not have the authority to take out drones in an interview Sunday, said some form of help is coming.

‘We understand why residents are concerned. In response and in close coordination with the [New Jersey State Police] and other law enforcement, [Homeland Security] quickly deployed personnel and technology to support.’ 

He clarified that so far, despite many theories to the contrary, DHS has found no link between the drones and any foreign government. 

DHS is also assisting the FBI in their probe into the drones. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

Schumer pleaded for assistance on Sunday, writing: ‘I’m pushing for answers amid these drone sightings. I’m calling for @SecMayorkas to deploy special drone-detection tech across NY and NJ.’

‘And I’m working to pass a bill in the Senate to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection,’ Schumer added.

He was retweeted on X by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who wrote to the federal government on Friday himself for assistance. 

Schumer wants the federal government to use a recently declassified radio wave technology in New York and New Jersey. 

The radio wave detector can be attached to a drone or airplane and can determine whether another flying object is a bird or a drone, read its electronic registration, and follow it back to its landing place. 

Schumer said state and local authorities do not have the authority to track drones. 

Because officials can´t say with certainty who is responsible for the sudden swarms of drones over parts of New Jersey, New York and other eastern parts of the U.S. – or how they can be stopped – leaders of both political parties have begun to demand better technology and powers to deal with the drones.

‘There´s a lot of us who are pretty frustrated right now,’ Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Fox News Sunday.

‘”We don´t know” is not a good enough answer,’ he said.

It comes after President-elect Donald Trump suggested that the unmanned aircraft be shot down.

‘Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge,’ Trump posted on Friday amid outcry over the ongoing mystery.

‘I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!’ the former and future president wrote on his social media site Truth Social.

Asked whether this was a possibility, Mayorkas told ABC News on Sunday that in order to be able to take more action, his agency needs to be given more powers.

‘With respect of the ability to incapacitate those drones, we are limited in our authorities,’ Mayorkas told This Week host George Stephanopoulos. 

‘We have certain agencies within the Department of Homeland Security that can do that and outside our department,’ he added. ‘But we need those authorities expanded, as well.’

He divulged that there are more than 8,000 drones flown every day in the U.S., including civilian and government for both work and leisure activities.

Mayorkas claims a new law allowing for drones to be flown in the U.S. at night is likely what is leading to an uptick in reports of these sightings. 

It appears so far that officials were caught off guard by the mysterious nationwide drone sightings and are working to identify them and address the concern.

Fears are growing over the mysterious objects that have been spotted flying across the sky in a number of U.S. cities in the last month – specifically in New Jersey, New York and Washington D.C.

A whopping 964 incidents have been logged in New Jersey since the first sighting on November 19 up until December 13, according to statistics collected by the state’s Office of Emergency Management and shared with the New York Post. 

Officials in Monmouth County, where residents reported 63 sightings over the time period, have shared a heatmap showing where the unmanned aircraft appear to be circulating. 

Drones are now being reported all along the northern East Coast, with suspicious sightings in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, according to news reports.

They were even spotted as far west as Los Angeles this past weekend, according to FOX11. 

Their presence has raised both alarm and confusion, with the Pentagon being criticized for their ‘lack of transparency’ on the issue.

A bill before the U.S. Senate would enhance some federal agencies´ authority and give new abilities to local and state agencies to track drones. 

It would also start a pilot program allowing states and local authorities to disrupt, disable or seize a drone without prior consent of the operator.

‘What the drone issue points out are gaps in our agencies, gaps in our authorities between the Department of Homeland Security, local law enforcement, the Defense Department.,’ said Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., Trump´s pick to be his national security adviser, speaking on CBS´ ‘Face the Nation’ on Sunday. 

‘Americans are finding it hard to believe we can´t figure out where these are coming from.´