FAA Tried to Make Filming ICE Agents by Drone a Crime, EFF Tells D.C. Circuit to Strike It Down
Vacate a Drone Restriction That Criminalized Recording Immigration Agents
EFF, the ACLU, and photography groups filed an amicus brief urging the D.C. Circuit to vacate an FAA drone flight restriction that effectively criminalized recording DHS and ICE agents and their vehicles, even from over half a mile away. Though the FAA rescinded the rule in April, the petitioners argue it could be reinstated at any time, and pilots could still be punished for past violations. The brief argues the restriction was a content-based attack on First Amendment-protected information gathering.
It surely wasn't a coincidence that the FAA imposed no-drone zones around all roving DHS patrols just as those patrols were provoking intense national backlash.
- dji4321234
As stated in the article, this restriction was already rescinded (to avoid a lawsuit reaching court) and replaced with an advisory stating that drones near DHS vehicles might be taken down:
https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/FAA-drone-ad...
The effort from the EFF is to get the original restriction called back up and vacated - essentially, they want a post-hoc determination that it was illegal, but the restriction is already gone.
- rahimnathwani
If you read the notice, it seems to effectively make it illegal to fly drones anywhere near a road. How can a drone operator possibly verify that they're NOT within 3000ft of a vehicle owned by DOD, DOE or DHS? Are all these cars marked in such a way that a drone that's over 3000ft away would be able to recognize it, so the operator knows not to go any closer?
PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 99.7, SPECIAL SECURITY INSTRUCTIONS (SSI), ALL UNMANNED ACFT ARE PROHIBITED FROM FLYING WITHIN A STAND-OFF DISTANCE OF 3000FT LATERALLY AND 1000FT ABOVE UNLESS INDICATED BY THE FAA BY NOTAM OR OTHER MEANS. TO: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD), DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE), AND DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) FACILITIES AND MOBILE ASSETS, INCLUDING VESSELS AND GROUND VEHICLE CONVOYS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED ESCORTS, SUCH AS UNITED STATES COAST GUARD (USCG) OPERATED VESSELS.
- hn_acker
The original title is:
> D.C. Circuit Must Vacate a Drone Flight Restriction That Criminalized Recording Immigration Agents