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5d ago

U.S. Begins Prosecuting Migrants for Entering New Military-Controlled Border Zone

The Department of Justice has charged 28 migrants for crossing the New Mexico National Defense Area, a militarized buffer zone established to deter unlawful entry.

FILE - The Anapra neighborhood of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, is seen behind the border wall in Sunland Park, N.M., Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)
FILE - The border wall is pictured in Sunland Park, N.M., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)
A general view of the Department of Justice building is seen ahead of the release of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report in Washington, U.S., April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky/File Photo
FILE - Army soldiers chat while waiting the arrival of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the US-Mexico border in Sunland Park, N.M., Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

Overview

  • The New Mexico National Defense Area, created in April 2025, spans 110,000 acres and a 60-foot-wide strip along the U.S.-Mexico border, now under military jurisdiction.
  • Twenty-eight migrants have been charged in federal court with both illegal border crossing and violating security regulations for entering the military zone.
  • The restricted area allows U.S. troops to detain migrants temporarily before transferring them to Border Patrol, circumventing the Posse Comitatus Act.
  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has described the zone as an extension of a military base, warning of severe penalties for trespassers, including fines up to $100,000 or a year in prison.
  • Civil liberties groups, including the ACLU of New Mexico, have raised concerns about the erosion of constitutional protections against military involvement in civilian law enforcement.