US troops begin detaining migrants on border defense zone
U.S. troops at the southern border started detaining migrants last week as part of the 'Deep South Campaign' to prosecute individuals found trespassing in National Defense Areas (NDAs).
President Trump has currently designated the U.S.-Mexico stretches between El Paso to Fort Hancock, Texas, as an NDA alongside the land line marking the country's boundaries in New Mexico.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Chad Campbell said three individuals were among the first detained near Santa Teresa, N.M., last week. They now remain in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection awaiting prosecution for illegal entry in addition to trespassing charges under the Trump administration's new policies.
In an effort to curb illegal immigration, officials ordered the Department of Defense to monitor border operations at NDAs on land previously overseen by the Interior Department, according to The Associated Press.
'We have been very clear that there will be additional National Defense Areas across the southern border,' Geoffrey Carmichael, a spokesperson for an enforcement task force at the southern border, told the AP. 'I won't speculate to where those are going to be.'
Although recurring signs placed nearly 100 meters apart clearly mark the NDAs, judges in New Mexico and Texas have moved to drop national security charges on individuals caught in militarized zones due to their lack of knowledge of the newly designated areas.
'We're going to keep going forward on these NDA charges,' U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons, who oversees western Texas, said in a statement to the AP.
'We are going to still bring them, we may win on them, we may not. … At the end of the day, you are not going to be allowed to stay in this country if you enter this country illegally.'
Migrant arrests follow the Trump administration's broader crackdown on immigrants without legal status nationwide sparking protests across the country. The president recently called in the National Guard and Marines to deter large groups from rioting over detainment and removal efforts in Los Angeles.
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