The U.S. Army confirmed that U.S. troops recently made the first detentions of illegal immigrants in the areas President Donald Trump’s administration designated as military zones along the southern border between the United States and Mexico earlier this year.
According to Reuters, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth previously declared roughly 260 miles along the southern border in Texas and New Mexico as extensions of U.S. Army bases and military zones, allowing U.S. troops to detain illegal immigrants and any other trespassers inside the military zones.
Major Geoffrey Carmichael, a U.S. Army spokesperson, told Reuters that three “illegal aliens” were detained by U.S. troops on June 3 near Santa Teresa in New Mexico and that the three illegal immigrants were handed over to U.S. Border Patrol custody.
Carmichael told Reuters, “This marks the first time Department of Defense personnel have recorded a temporary detainment within either National Defense Area.”
READ MORE: US military can now detain illegal immigrants along southern border strip
In April, U.S. Northern Command announced that U.S. service members had been “delegated the authority and directed to conduct installation security support operations” within the New Mexico National Defense Area.
At the time, U.S. Northern Command officials explained that since the New Mexico National Defense Area was designated by the Trump administration as an extension of the U.S. Army Fort Huachuca installation, U.S. troops deployed to the southern border had been authorized to “temporarily detain trespassers on the NMNDA until an appropriate law enforcement entity can assume custody” and to “conduct cursory searches of trespassers on the NMNDA to ensure the safety of U.S. service members and Department of Defense (DoD) property.”
While U.S. troops have been authorized to temporarily detain illegal immigrants and other trespassers inside U.S. military zones along the southern border, Reuters reported that the Army indicated that the main role of the troops in the military zones is to detect and track individuals who illegally cross the southern border. The Army told Reuters that roughly 390 illegal border crossings have been detected so far by U.S. troops in the designated military zones along the southern border.
