(NewsNation) — The Trump administration has now created two “National Defense Areas” along the nation’s southern border.
The patrolled zones — located in New Mexico and Texas — are part of the White House’s plans to militarize the U.S.-Mexico border.
Typically, it would take Congressional approval to establish such a large military area, according to Just Security, a nonpartisan digital law and policy journal. But Trump has circumvented the process via his national emergency declaration at the border, made hours after his inauguration.
The establishment of NDAs and his emergency declaration barely scratch the surface of the border policy changes Trump has implemented during his first 100 days in office.
Other actions include an executive order designating some cartels and other criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, and the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to carry out deportation flights.
What is a National Defense Area?
A National Defense Area is federal land where military forces are installed, according to an executive order from April 11. The military zones were expressly created as part of Trump’s plan to seal the southern border, “repelling the invasion” of migrants.
Designation as an NDA allows federal troops to temporarily detain people who enter the zone. Troops can also conduct cursory searches on detainees and administer medical support as needed.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the zones are property of the DOD, and anyone who attempts to illegally enter the “federally protected area” will be detained.
“You will be interdicted by U.S. troops and border patrol working together,” Hegseth said, according to the Defense’s official news site.
Where are Trump’s National Defense Areas?
On April 18, the Pentagon designated a 200-mile-long stretch of the border between New Mexico and Mexico as part of Arizona’s existing Fort Huachuca.
At least 28 migrants have been charged for crossing into an area, dubbed the “New Mexico National Defense Area,” according to multiple reports in late April.
The newest zone, the “El Paso National Defense Area,” is on the Texas-Mexico border.
It will be part of Fort Bliss, the U.S. Northern Command said in a Thursday press release. The exact scope of the zone has not yet been confirmed.
“The establishment of a second National Defense Area increases our operational reach and effectiveness in denying illegal activity along the southern border,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of the U.S. Northern Command.
National Defense Areas: Border control or civil rights concern?
Proponents say that a stronger troop presence on the border will serve to further protect border cities and curb the flow of migrants into the U.S.
But rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union are concerned about the potential pitfalls of heightened militarization.
Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney of ACLU of New Mexico, said in a statement that the approach is “akin to Texas’s Operation Lone Star on steroids.”
“As New Mexicans, we have deep concerns about the enhanced militarization of our borderlands communities,” Sheff said. “The expansion of military detention powers … represents a dangerous erosion of the constitutional principle that the military should not be policing civilians.”