July 2 (UPI) — The Pentagon is establishing a fourth military defense zone along the U.S.-Mexico border, where American soldiers can apprehend noncitizens on charges of trespassing, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman Sean Parnell said Wednesday, amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
The fourth National Defense Area will be controlled by the U.S. Navy and encompass approximately 140 miles of federal property along the U.S.-Mexico border near the Barry M. Goldwater Range in Arizona.
The announcement comes a week after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the establishment of a 250-mile NDA along the Rio Grande River in Texas’ Cameron and Hidalgo Counties, which is to be controlled by the U.S. Air Force.
The first NDA was established on April 21, spanning 170 miles along the New Mexico border, followed by the second erected on May 1 in West Texas, covering 63 miles between El Paso and Fort Hancock.
The NDAs are zones where U.S. military personnel can temporarily detain alleged trespassers, in this case, those who are seeking to enter the United States via Mexico, and transfer them to appropriate law enforcement authorities.
The authorization for their creation comes under President Donald Trump’s April 11 memorandum directing the U.S. military to seal the southern border to repel an alleged “invasion” of immigrants trying to enter the country. And the military’s ability to perform immigration law enforcement duties follows a March 20 order from Hegseth to become involved in border operations.
Parnell announced the creation of the fourth military buffer zone during a regular press conference Wednesday while updating reporters on the military’s immigration activities.
He said there are approximately 8,500 U.S. soldiers performing duties with Joint Task Force Southern Border, and since March 20, days after the task force was formed, they have conducted more than 3,500 patrols.
The militarization of the U.S. southern border is part of Trump’s plan to crack down on immigration after having been elected following a campaign during which he often spouted derogatory rhetoric and misinformation about immigrants while vowing to conduct mass deportations.
According to Parnell, the relationship between the military and Customs and Border Protection “yielded exceptional results between June 28 and June 30 with zero gotaways across the entire southern border.
“We have made incredible progress and will continue to work toward achieving 100% operational control of the border,” he said.
