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yesterday

Pentagon Creates Two New National Defense Areas Along U.S.-Mexico Border

It authorizes troops to detain migrants temporarily in Texas with new authority in Arizona to bolster the administration’s southern border enforcement.

A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle patrols along the border wall, following the establishment of a 260-mile military zone along the southern U.S. border in New Mexico and Texas as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, in Sunland Park, New Mexico, U.S., May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo
This March 28, 2019 photo released by the US Marine Corps shows the Marine Corps Air Station Squadron barracks at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in Yuma, Arizona.
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Overview

  • The Pentagon designated National Defense Areas covering 250 miles of the Rio Grande in Texas and 100 miles along Arizona’s border, bringing the total to four.
  • Under the NDA framework, service members may detain migrants for alleged trespassing and then transfer them to Customs and Border Protection.
  • Democratic senators have warned that the zones undermine Posse Comitatus Act safeguards and risk bypassing due process for individuals entering restricted areas.
  • Federal judges recently dismissed dozens of trespassing cases over migrants’ lack of awareness of NDA boundaries even as prosecutors secured the first convictions this month.
  • Illegal crossings have plunged to record lows, with 5,414 apprehensions and 986 confirmed gotaways logged between June 1 and June 22.