Overview
- The Interior Department is shifting roughly 740–760 acres in San Diego and Imperial counties to the Navy to establish a National Defense Area stretching from the Otay Mountain Wilderness toward the Imperial County line.
- CBP says troops on military property will be able to detain trespassers and hand them to border agencies, though the start date, troop levels, and Navy operational details remain undisclosed.
- Rodney Scott reported migrant encounters are about 92% below peaks under the prior administration, with the San Diego sector showing a 93% year-over-year drop in October.
- Tom Homan and Scott said fewer crossings have enabled a pivot to interior enforcement, with record deportations and prosecutions occurring at what they described as unprecedented levels.
- Reporters noted federal trespass charges have been used in other border defense zones, while advocates cite the end of the CBPOne asylum pathway and a rise in border-related deaths documented by No More Deaths.