The Department of Justice has begun the first prosecutions of migrants for illegally entering a military zone created along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, according to court filings.
Some 28 migrants were charged in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Monday for crossing into the 170-mile-long buffer zone patrolled by U.S. troops, according to court filings.
Creation of the 60-foot-wide strip this month along the base of New Mexico gave U.S. troops the authority to detain migrants in the area north of border barriers.
Troops have yet to arrest any migrants or other trespassers within the so-called New Mexico National Defense Area, according to Major Geoffrey Carmichael, a U.S. Army spokesman.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited the area last week and said it was phase one of a plan to extend the buffer zone.
“Any illegal attempting to enter that zone is entering a military base,” Hegseth said in video posted on social media. “You will be interdicted by U.S. troops and Border Patrol working together.”
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Author: Faith Novak
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