The Trump administration is evaluating a plan that would empower US military forces to temporarily hold migrants crossing the southern border illegally, according to a report from The Washington Post which cited US officials familiar with the deliberations.
The proposal would establish a military-controlled buffer zone measuring 60 feet deep along sections of the US-Mexico border, initially focusing on New Mexico with potential expansion to California, five US officials said on condition of anonymity.
Officials are examining whether the buffer zone could operate as a temporary military installation, allowing soldiers to hold migrants who cross illegally until they can be transferred to immigration authorities.
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“It’s very, very careful on that wording,” said one defense official familiar with the discussions. “It’s not ‘detention’ because once you go into detention it has the connotations of being detained for arrest. This is holding for civilian law enforcement.”
The plan appears designed to circumvent the Posse Comitatus Act, a longstanding federal law that prohibits using military personnel for domestic law enforcement. Critics argue the approach creates a legal fiction to use military personnel for what is essentially a law enforcement function.
Pentagon lawyers have been asked to examine potential legal complications from having troops temporarily hold migrants when Customs and Border Protection agents are not immediately available.
The proposal focuses on the Roosevelt Reservation, federal land that President Theodore Roosevelt designated for border security in 1907, extending from New Mexico to California. Typically controlled by the Interior Department, jurisdiction for portions has previously transferred to the Pentagon during border wall construction.
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US law permits transferring up to 5,000 acres at a time to the Defense Department without congressional approval.
The Defense Department has already expanded its border presence, establishing a joint task force with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Huachuca in southeastern Arizona. About 2,400 soldiers from the Army’s 4th Infantry Division are stationed in the region, with deployments including armored Stryker combat vehicles.
Currently, more than 10,000 active-duty service members are involved in border security operations, according to military officials.
White House officials have been involved in discussions, though it remains unclear whether President Trump will ultimately approve the plan.
Illegal border crossings have dramatically dropped in recent months, with US Customs and Border Protection reporting 28,654 apprehensions in February, from 124,522 in December under the previous administration.
Trump administration officials have stated they seek “100 percent control” of America’s borders and aim to stop illegal drug flows into the United States.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth has publicly supported using military resources at the southern border. “We have defended other places and other spaces,” Hegeseth said in February during an initial trip to the border as Pentagon chief. “We will defend this line.”
Civil liberties organizations have historically opposed military involvement in immigration enforcement, viewing it as an expansion of military authority into domestic affairs.
Previous attempts to expand military roles at the border have faced resistance from Pentagon leadership. Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reportedly said “We don’t do stunts in this department” regarding border deployments in 2018, while his successor Mark Esper wrote in his memoir about resisting pressure to use troops for domestic law enforcement.
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