President Donald Trump has authorized the U.S. military to assume authority over federal lands along the southern border in an effort to bolster his immigration enforcement strategy.
In a memorandum issued late Friday and titled “Military Mission for Sealing the Southern Border of the United States and Repelling Invasions,” Trump instructed the secretaries of Defense, Interior, Agriculture, and Homeland Security to coordinate the transfer of control over certain federal lands.
The directive aims to allow military operations along the border to take place on territory officially designated as military installations under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense.
These lands would be classified as “National Defense Areas.”
Among the locations identified for military oversight is the Roosevelt Reservation—a federally owned strip of land that runs along the U.S.-Mexico border through California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
The reservation is approximately 60 feet wide, comparable to “the distance from home plate to the pitcher’s mound,” according to Adam Isacson, director of defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Migrants who enter areas under the control of the Department of Defense could face more serious legal consequences, as doing so would be considered trespassing on a military installation, according to Adam Isacson. This could lead to charges beyond the typical federal misdemeanor of “entry without inspection.”
In the memorandum, President Trump reaffirmed his administration’s position that the U.S.-Mexico border is under siege, describing the situation as an “invasion.”
“Given the complexity of the current circumstances, our military must play a more active role in securing the border than it has in recent years.”
Despite this rhetoric, illegal border crossings have significantly decreased in recent months. The decline comes amid the Trump administration’s continued military buildup at the border and Mexico’s increased immigration enforcement efforts.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported about 7,200 migrant encounters in March—down sharply from more than 189,000 during the same month last year.
“With between four and five uniformed personnel for every migrant apprehended in March,” Isacson noted, “it’s hard to see the need for even more enforcement at this point.”