The El Paso Airspace Shutdown: The Truth vs The Cover Story

Watch the full Daily DeFranco Show: https://www.youtube.com/@PhilipDeFranco?sub_confirmation=1 Get More News Clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpLB7kBu9O5dbBKhaIOmqcQ?sub_confirmation=1 The Trump administration suddenly and without explanation imposed an unprecedented ten-day shutdown over a major American city’s airspace, lifted the restrictions, and then lied about why it happened – all within the span of just a few hours. That’s how you have many understanding what just happened in El Paso, Texas. Right, because late last night, the Federal Aviation Administration issued what’s known as a “temporary flight restriction” or TFR for the airspace around the city. And it said that for the next ten days everywhere up to 18,000 feet in altitude and in a ten-nautical-mile-radius would be off limits to all pilots – excluding Mexican airspace. With an accompanying NOTAM or “Notice to Air Missions” giving them a clear warning – saying: “Pilots who do not adhere to the following [procedure] may be intercepted, detained and interviewed by law enforcement/security personnel.” Also stating that any pilot who does not comply may face civil penalties or criminal charges – and finally adding: “The United States Government may use deadly force against the airborne act, if it is determined that the act poses an imminent security threat.” But with all that, as far as why this was actually happening? You had the TFR simply citing “special security reasons.” And the FAA actually gave the same explanation for a second TFR issued last night for the small community of Santa Teresa in New Mexico – which is about 15 miles northwest of the El Paso airport. But the attention has largely been on El Paso because it’s such a major city. It’s located right on the river dividing the US and Mexico, and it’s the 23rd-most populous city in the nation according to the latest census – with roughly 700,000 people living there. And that’s not counting Ciudad (see-you-dahd, pronunciation) Juarez, which is just across the border, and together with El Paso form a metropolitan area with well over two million inhabitants. And with all that, while El Paso isn’t the busiest airport in the US, you still had nearly 3.5 million passengers passing through last year alone.And when it posted on its Instagram that all commercial, cargo and general aviation flights would be closed through February 20th you understandably had a lot of people who were frustrated and confused. Right, to be clear, the FAA issues temporary flight restrictions all the time for lots of different reasons – including natural disasters, such as wildfires and hurricanes, and major sporting events, like the Super Bowl. But it's highly unusual to shut down the airspace over a big city for an extended period of time with almost no explanation. —————————— Produced by: Cory Ray, Philip DeFranco Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Jared Paolino, Philip DeFranco ———————————— #USA #America #Trump