Migrants charged for entering Trump's military zone in Texas near border

USA Today

2 days ago

Migrants charged for entering Trump's military zone in Texas near border
The Trump administration has begun to bring charges against migrants who crossed into a newly established military zone along the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso.
Twenty-seven migrants from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador were charged in El Paso County Court on May 27. They are accused of "willful violation of defense property security regulation" and illegally "entering a military post, fort, or yard."
The U.S. Attorney's office began bringing charges against migrants in early May, following the establishment of the Trump administration's defense area in El Paso County at the beginning of the month.
The Department of Defense states that only 54 people were apprehended by Border Patrol within the defense area, said U.S. Army Captain Jordan Beagle in an email.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said in a news statement that more than 340 people have been convicted of violating the defense area. Those people charged with violating the military zone have been sentenced to time served and released for deportation.
'These national defense area-related charges are brought because the defendants violated of the federal law," Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas said in a news statement. "These convictions are a positive step in the judicial process of deterring illegal immigration."
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Charges have also been brought against migrants who have crossed into the military zone in New Mexico, which stretches east 170 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border from El Paso to the border with Arizona.
The United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico has charged at least 600 people in New Mexico with violating the National Defense Area in New Mexico, as of May 23, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
But a federal judge dismissed the charges against 98 people arrested in New Mexico for violating the military zone. Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth agreed with defense attorneys that the individuals did not know they were in a military zone, and the signs were not an adequate warning.
The 98 individuals still face charges for crossing illegally into the United States and face deportation.
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Trump's border military zone
The signs warning of the Trump administration's military zone began appearing along the border wall in El Paso, extending through New Mexico, in early May, following the establishment of the first such signs along New Mexico's border with Mexico.
The red and white sign was presented by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a visit to El Paso and the border wall on April 25. They warn anyone entering the area in both English and Spanish that "unauthorized entry is prohibited."
"This is Department of Defense property," Hegseth said while visiting the border wall. "Any illegal to enter that zone is entering a military base — a federally protected area. You will be detained. You will be interdicted by U.S. troops and border patrol working together."
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The signs declaring a 60-foot area west of the border wall as a military zone began being posted following Hegseth's visit. The number of signs along the border increases by the hour, said Sargent First-Class Kent Redmond, a spokesperson with the Joint Task Force - Southern Border Operations.
The military zone was established following President Donald Trump's executive order on Jan. 20, declaring a national emergency along the southern border. The Trump administration began discussing the creation of a military zone along the New Mexico border in March 2025.
The Department of Defense established the first national defense area in April.
The military zone spans 170 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border from El Paso through New Mexico to the Arizona border. It covers over 100,000 acres of New Mexican land and extends between 60 feet and 3.5 miles from the border.
The area is considered part of the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachuca in Arizona.
Active-duty U.S. troops and Stryker military vehicles are stationed in the zone. The troops are empowered to hold any migrant who unlawfully crosses the border into the United States until they can be turned over to Border Patrol and immigration authorities.
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The second national defense area was announced on May 1 and extends 63 miles through El Paso County to Fort Hancock in Hudspeth County. It includes 2,000 acres of land and extends between 130 and 1,000 feet from the border.
This area falls under the command of Fort Bliss.
'Challenge' for Borderland community
Immigrant advocacy groups along the U.S.-Mexico border have condemned the expansion of the military zone into El Paso County.
The Borderland community has long sought to promote a culture that welcomes, protects and integrates immigrants and refugees, said Dylan Corbett, the executive director of the El Paso-based Hope Border Institute.
"The creation of a fictional military base at the base of the border wall extending for hundreds of miles for the sole purpose of prosecuting migrants is an affront to that culture and risks deepening the local crisis of migrant deaths," Corbett said. "We've also learned that only rarely are these types of misadventures in border militarization ever rolled back, but become permanent features of the landscape, representing not just a nuisance for hunters and hikers, but a more fundamental challenge to who we are as a border community."
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Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:[e-mail]; @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.