The US military has made the first arrests inside military areas established along the US-Mexico border as part of President Donald Trump's campaign to tighten illegal immigration control. The information was confirmed by the US Army Command.
These areas stretch across 418km of the border between New Mexico and Texas, and have been declared by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as a temporary expansion of US military bases. This allows competent soldiers to temporarily detain border crossing people and civilian incursionists until the civil law enforcement force arrives to receive them.
According to Army spokesman Major Geoffrey Carmichael, the three people described as illegal immigrants were arrested by US soldiers in early June near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, before being handed over to the Border Guard. This is the first time US Defense Department soldiers have recorded a temporary detention in one of the two national defense zones.
Previously, US presidents have used military forces at the border in support roles such as supervising and constructing works. However, President Trump has raised the level of intervention by allowing the military to directly detain prisoners in the military area until the civilian forces take over. The soldiers also have the right to search individuals and take measures to control crowds in designated areas.
Declaring these areas a temporary military base would allow President Trump to deploy the federal army without citing the 1807 coup d'etat, which allowed the president to use the military to stir up civil disorder.
However, the prosecution of many immigrants arrested in these areas has encountered legal difficulties. Several judges in New Mexico and Texas have denied the illegal entry allegations and ruled a Peruvian woman a free woman, saying the men did not know they were entering a restricted area.
According to the US Army, the main role of soldiers in these military regions is to detect and track people crossing the border, with about 390 cases recorded so far.
Information about these arrests was released in the context of President Trump deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles to deal with protests related to immigration vests.
