(NewsNation) — The newest effort from the Trump administration to secure the southern border includes authorizing the military to take control of public land along the border.
“The complexity of the current situation requires that our military take a more direct role in securing our southern border than in the recent past,” a White House memorandum said.
In a historic move, the Department of Defense now has control of the Roosevelt Reservation, a narrow, 60-foot-wide federal strip that runs along parts of California, Arizona, and New Mexico that originally was set aside by former President Theodore Roosevelt for border security.
Under a new national security memorandum signed by President Trump — that land will fall under the control of the DoD. The goal is to ensure military enforcement of the border and zero unlawful entry.
This memo gives the Pentagon full authority to build barriers, install detection equipment and even create what are now being called “National Defense Areas” along that strip, treating it like active-duty military space.
The Secretary of Defense has 45 days to assess this first phase and could expand it at any time. That means even more land, more troops and more federal force possibly coming to the southern border.
NewsNation spoke with Victor Avila, a retired ICE supervisory special agent, who shared why he believes these military resources are being sent to the border.
“This is a supplemental help that they need down the border,” Avila said. “We don’t have enough people to you know, secure that.”