The initiative comes as immigration remains a central issue in the eight months since President Donald Trump’s successful 2024 re-election campaign. Photo credit: Reuters
The Pentagon (US Department of Defence) is set to establish two additional military zones along the southern border with Mexico, a move aimed at enabling troops to temporarily detain migrants and trespassers without invoking emergency powers.
The US Air Force said on Wednesday that one of the new “National Defence Areas” will span approximately 250 miles along the Rio Grande in Texas and will be administered under Joint Base San Antonio.
Reuters reports that the second zone will fall under the jurisdiction of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona. These zones expand on two previously established military zones where only four individuals have so far been temporarily detained.
Officials say the zones are designed to provide legal grounds for military involvement in detaining migrants without resorting to the 1807 Insurrection Act, which authorises presidential deployment of military forces during civil unrest.
However, the legal impact of these zones has been mixed. Federal judges in Texas and New Mexico have dismissed trespassing charges against migrants on the grounds that they were not aware they were in restricted areas. Nonetheless, more than 120 migrants pleaded guilty to trespassing in Texas in May, and federal prosecutors secured the first two convictions in the New Mexico zone on June 18.
The Trump administration has credited increased border troop deployments and tightened enforcement with a decline in illegal crossings.
Currently, an estimated 11,900 troops are stationed at the US-Mexico border. Illegal crossings reportedly dropped to record lows in March following the Biden administration’s 2024 decision to shut down asylum processing and Mexico’s strengthened immigration enforcement.
Editing by Tony Okerafor
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