BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador has joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general urging the Trump administration to expand state and local law enforcement authority to intercept unauthorized drones dropping contraband into correctional facilities, according to a letter sent to a senior White House official.

The Push for New Authority

The coalition’s letter, addressed to Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counter Terrorism, asks the administration’s Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty to grant state and local officials carefully defined authority to detect, track, and disable unauthorized drones before they reach prison grounds.

Under current federal law, only a narrow set of federal agencies hold legal authority to intercept or mitigate unauthorized drone activity. That restriction leaves correctional officers — who may observe an incoming drone in real time — without the legal tools to intervene.

“Corrections officers can see these drones — which are carrying drugs and weapons — coming, but can’t legally stop them,” Labrador said in a statement released by his office. “We’re asking President Trump’s task force to change that and give state law enforcement the authority to disable these drones before they reach the prison.”

The Threat Inside Prison Walls

The attorneys general describe a significant and growing public safety problem. The letter outlines several categories of contraband being delivered by drone, including narcotics, weapons, and cell phones, each carrying distinct risks for correctional facilities and surrounding communities.

According to the letter, smuggled narcotics contribute to addiction, violence, and overdose incidents inside facilities. Weapons raise the risk of assaults and organized violence. Contraband cell phones, the attorneys general argue, enable incarcerated individuals to continue operating criminal enterprises from behind bars, including fraud schemes and witness intimidation.

“Drones are dropping contraband directly into prisons, allowing inmates to continue running criminal enterprises from behind bars,” Labrador said. “This is a major public safety threat impacting correctional facilities across the country, and it is fueling broader crime both inside and outside of prison walls.”

What the Coalition Is Asking For

In their letter, the 21 attorneys general make two primary requests of the Gorka-led task force. First, they ask the task force to work with relevant federal agencies to define and delegate authority for state and local law enforcement to counter drone threats at correctional facilities efficiently and in real time.

Second, the coalition requests continued collaboration between state and federal law enforcement to investigate and prosecute individuals who use drones to introduce contraband into prisons.

The letter commends the Trump administration for creating the Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty, framing the effort as an opportunity to address the jurisdictional gap that has hampered state-level responses to the drone problem.

What’s Next

The ball now rests with the federal task force to determine whether and how to respond to the coalition’s request. Any formal expansion of state and local authority over drone interdiction would likely require either a federal regulatory action or congressional legislation, as current restrictions on anti-drone operations are rooted in federal statute.

Labrador’s office has not indicated a timeline for a federal response, and no specific legislation has been proposed at the Idaho state level to address the issue independently.

Broader Context

The multistate letter reflects growing attention to drone-related security threats at a time when unmanned aerial systems are increasingly accessible to the public. Idaho’s Air National Guard has also been engaged in broader airspace and national security operations, including a recent deployment to the Middle East in support of U.S. military operations.

Labrador, who took office in January 2023, has frequently aligned with multistate coalitions on law enforcement and federal authority questions. The attorney general has been an active participant in national legal and policy debates, and has also made headlines recently for his endorsement in a contested Idaho legislative primary. His office continues to pursue an aggressive policy agenda heading into the 2026 election cycle.