Pentagon authorizes DHS to trial non-lethal heat-ray system at US-Mexico border
The Defense Department has granted the Department of Homeland Security a seven-month loan of an Active Denial System to test its use for border operations.
A memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth permits the Department of Homeland Security to receive a temporary loan of a single Active Denial System for a seven-month trial beginning in September. The Active Denial System is a non-lethal, directed-energy weapon that emits an invisible electromagnetic beam causing a burning, “tingling” sensation that can last 10-15 minutes and prompts people to move away. The agreement places all operational responsibility on DHS, prohibiting Department of War staff from handling the device.
Officials have previously debated using the heat-ray for crowd dispersal along the US-Mexico border and during domestic protests, but concerns over legality, effectiveness and potential harm have prevented its use. Earlier evaluations in the El Centro sector and a 2018 proposal under former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen were rejected as inhumane. Current CBP officials say the system is being examined as a possible tool to enhance border-security capabilities, though some agents question its necessity amid lower crossing rates.
Why it matters
Testing a military heat-ray at the border could reshape immigration enforcement and raise legal and humanitarian issues.
How the sides frame it
HIGH AGREEMENTBoth camps report the Defense Secretary’s approval of a seven-month trial of the Active Denial System, but left-leaning coverage emphasizes health-rights concerns and the ACLU’s arrest statistics, while centrist coverage presents a more neutral account focusing on the loan details and lingering questions about legality and effectiveness.
LEFT
Frames the trial as controversial, highlighting health-risk warnings and backlash concerns.
CENTER
Frames the trial as a factual, procedural development with noted legal and effectiveness questions.
The left emphasises
- non-lethal heat-ray weapon
- health-rights groups warn of burns, blisters, eye damage
- ACLU study cites arrests and deaths in DHS custody
In this story
