The Defense Department has designated a second military zone along the U.S.-Mexico border, this time in El Paso, extending Fort Bliss’s jurisdiction to allow troops to detain and search individuals suspected of trespassing.
The 3-mile-long El Paso National Defense Area, considered part of Fort Bliss in West Texas, marks the second such zone created by the Trump administration to curb illegal border crossings. The first zone, a 170-mile strip in New Mexico treated as an extension of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachuca, saw its first arrests of trespassers on April 28 for breaching a national defense area, according to the Associated Press.
Geoffrey Carmichael, spokesman for the Joint Task Force – Southern Border, said soldiers have begun installing signs at the El Paso National Defense Area to warn people they are entering a military base. Stryker armored combat vehicles from Fort Carson, Colorado, will monitor the area using cameras at stationary points and on mobile patrols, Carmichael told Stars and Stripes.
The move aims to bypass the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the military from engaging in civilian law enforcement.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, during a recent visit to New Mexico, explained the legal workaround, stating, “Any illegal attempting to enter that zone is entering a military base, a federally protected area,” as quoted by AP. This strategy allows the federal government to enforce immigration laws without Congressional approval.
Geoffrey S. Corn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and director of the Center for Military Law and Policy at Texas Tech University School of Law, called the approach “ingenious” but noted that for over two centuries, the federal government has barred the military from enforcing civilian laws, as soldiers are not trained for civilian law enforcement duties, according to the Texas Tribune.
“The establishment of a second National Defense Area increases our operational reach and effectiveness in denying illegal activity along the southern border,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command, said, according to Stars and Stripes.
The initiative comes as migrant crossings have dropped significantly, with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reporting 1,627 migrant encounters in the El Paso sector in March—a decrease of 87% from August 2024. Despite the decline, the Trump administration has deployed thousands of troops to the border, where arrests are at their lowest levels since the mid-1960s.