Overview
- The U.S. Defense Department has designated a 63-mile Texas National Defense Area east of El Paso, following a similar zone in New Mexico last month.
- Military personnel in these zones are authorized to detain migrants temporarily before transferring them to U.S. Customs and Border Protection or other civilian authorities.
- The Texas zone, part of Fort Bliss, allows the government to bypass Posse Comitatus restrictions on military involvement in civilian law enforcement.
- Despite the expanded military presence, detentions in the new Texas zone have so far been handled exclusively by Border Patrol officials.
- Illegal border crossings have fallen to historic lows, with 11,900 troops currently deployed along the southern border as part of broader immigration enforcement efforts.