Trump Directive Calls to Turn Border Land Into Military Installation
President Trump announced a plan on Friday to turn a narrow strip along the Mexican border in California, Arizona and New Mexico into a military installation as part of his effort to curtail illegal crossings.The plan, set out in a White House memorandum, calls for transferring authority over the 60-foot-wide strip of federal border land known as the Roosevelt Reservation from other cabinet agencies to the Defense Department.Military forces patrolling that area could then temporarily detain migrants passing through for trespassing on a military reservation, said a U.S.
military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.The directive expands a military presence that has increased steadily along the southern border, even as crossings have already dropped precipitously during the Trump administration.The ordering of troops to the border has already put the military in politically charged territory, and, depending on the details of the effort, the plan could run afoul of laws that limit the use of regular federal troops for domestic law enforcement.The directive says that the border strip will become a “military installation under the jurisdiction of” the Pentagon.
Military members would be able to stop anyone crossing into the “military installation” but would not have the power to make immigration arrests, according to the military official.Border Patrol agents could then be summoned to arrest the migrants.The memorandum formalizes a plan that the administration had been considering for weeks.
The Washington Post had reported on the plan earlier.A White House spokesman did not respond to questions seeking clarity as to what U.S.forces operating in the strip of border land would be able to do.
A Defense Department spokesman also did not respond to questions seeking clarity.Military officials are still working out how to execute the plan, including how long troops could detain migrants before turning them over to Border Pat...