Military Zone Sparks Controversy in U.S.-Mexico Border Crackdown

The U.S. Department of Justice has initiated prosecutions against migrants for illegally entering a newly created military zone along the U.S.-Mexico border. This move, part of President Trump's immigration crackdown, sparks concerns over military involvement in civilian law enforcement, drawing criticism from civil rights organizations.

The U.S. Department of Justice is prosecuting migrants for crossing into a newly established military buffer zone at the U.S.-Mexico border, marking a novel enforcement tactic under President Trump's immigration policies. On Monday, 28 migrants faced charges in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for entering the 170-mile-long zone monitored by U.S. troops, as detailed in court documents.

This 60-foot-wide area, established in New Mexico, grants U.S. troops the power to detain migrants north of traditional border barriers, though no arrests have been made within the New Mexico National Defense Area, according to Army spokesperson Major Geoffrey Carmichael.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the zone as part of a broader initiative to expand buffer areas, emphasizing that anyone entering the zone illegally will face interdiction by U.S. troops and Border Patrol. Civil rights groups, like the ACLU of New Mexico, have criticized this as eroding the principle that the military should not police civilians.

(With inputs from agencies.)