FAA abandons drone restrictions near ICE vehicles after lawsuit

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has withdrawn US drone restrictions that barred flights near federal immigration enforcement vehicles after a Minnesota photojournalist challenged the rule in federal court. 

The FAA replaced the restrictions after Rob Levine, a Minneapolis-based photojournalist, sued the agency with help from attorneys at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.  

Levine argued that the FAA’s rule blocked lawful drone journalism by creating moving no-fly zones around federal vehicles that pilots could not identify before launching. 

The restriction, issued in January 2026, barred drones from flying within 3,000 feet laterally and 1,000 feet vertically of certain Department of Homeland Security facilities and mobile assets, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ground vehicles and escorts.

Because ICE operates under DHS, the rule applied to vehicles used in immigration enforcement operations, including unmarked vehicles. 

Levine’s attorneys argued that made the restriction impossible to follow. lawyers said drone pilot could not know whether an unmarked ICE or DHS vehicle was operating nearby, yet the FAA had threatened civil and criminal penalties for violations. 

The lawsuit, filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, argued that the restriction violated the First Amendment, the Administrative Procedure Act and due process protections. It also said the rule chilled Levine’s ability to cover protests and immigration enforcement activity from the air. 

The FAA withdrew the January restriction and replaced it with advisory language that no longer carries the same specific standoff distances or penalty language.  

The updated notice advises drone operators to avoid flying near certain federal mobile assets and warns that federal agencies may still act against drones they consider a credible safety or security threat. 

Levine has used drones to photograph protests and other public events in Minnesota. He said the FAA restriction grounded his drones during a period when immigration enforcement activity had become an important local news story. 

Drone pilots already must comply with FAA airspace rules, temporary flight restrictions, remote ID requirements and restrictions around sensitive fixed sites. The January DHS vehicle restriction went further by attaching a nationwide no-fly zone to moving federal assets, including vehicles that the public often cannot see or identify.The post FAA abandons drone restrictions near ICE vehicles after lawsuit appeared first on AeroTime.

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