The Trump administration is reportedly considering approval of a new plan to have the Pentagon take control of a buffer zone along a large stretch of the southern border, and authorize deployed U.S. troops to temporarily detain migrants crossing the border illegally.
As unnamed officials told the Washington Post, discussions are focusing on an area in New Mexico. The plan would, in effect, turn the area in question into a full-fledged military installation, allowing the crackdown on illegal immigration to be funded from the Defense Department’s budget.
According to insiders, moreover, the plan will inevitably raise questions. Employing the military in this way, moreover, would go against the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law that prohibits active-duty troops from participating in most law enforcement missions. Should the initiative be approved, the area under military control would extend as far as California.
Senior Pentagon officials have asked military officials to examine whether legal complications could arise from U.S. troops temporarily detaining those who illegally cross the border south of the country. By militarizing the buffer zone, any apprehension of migrants by members of the military would be tantamount to apprehending intruders on a military base.
According to a senior federal administration official, it is not a foregone conclusion that Donald Trump will approve the plan, but at the same time the government would seem to be quite supportive of the idea of installing a national defense zone right near the turbulent border. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth himself had declared last February, “We will defend this line.”
Since returning to the White House, Trump has stepped up his aggressive approach to immigration enforcement, promoting arrests and deportations in various parts of the nation. Currently, more than 10,000 active duty service members are involved in border security efforts. At the same time, illegal crossings documented by CBP have plummeted from 124,522 in December to 28,654 in February.
Meanwhile, in recent days, the Defense Department has expanded its presence along the southern border, establishing a joint task force with Fort Drum’s 10th Mountain Division, overseeing the mission from a headquarters at Fort Huachuca in southeastern Arizona.
