The United States has significantly expanded military involvement in border enforcement along the southern frontier with Mexico by establishing large militarised no-entry zones in New Mexico and Texas — a move being hailed by officials as a crackdown on smuggling networks, but fiercely criticised by civil rights groups, local residents, and legal experts.
Thousands of orange warning signs posted in English and Spanish now dot the desert, declaring certain public areas “restricted” under military authority. These signs mark the first-ever designation of militarised buffer zones along the US-Mexico border under the national emergency declared by Donald Trump, bypassing traditional civilian enforcement mechanisms.
“It’s about plugging enforcement gaps and dismantling smuggling networks,” US authorities said, justifying the move.
A Historic Military Shift
The initiative empowers US military personnel to detain migrants, a move that critics argue circumvents the Posse Comitatus Act — an 1878 law restricting military involvement in civilian policing.
- 230 miles of borderland in New Mexico and Texas are already under this new authority.
- An additional 250 miles in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley were added last week, with more planned for Arizona.
- 7,600 troops are currently deployed across these militarised zones — an unprecedented presence.
Criticism and Humanitarian Concerns
While some local farmers and ranchers support the increased security, many residents and rights activists say the zones have effectively blocked access to public lands, criminalised migration, and put civilian safety at risk.
“Maybe there are more deaths, but we don’t know,” said Abbey Carpenter, part of a migrant search-and-rescue team, worried that restricted access is obscuring fatalities in desert regions.
Others, like Luna County Commissioner Ray Trejo, warn about the dangers of blurred lines between military and civilian spaces:
“I don’t want to go down there with a hunting rifle and suddenly be treated like I’m in a war zone.”
Legal Consequences and Court Challenges
Over 1,400 migrants have already been charged with trespassing on military property — facing up to 18 months in prison on top of penalties for illegal entry.
- A Guatemalan woman with a sixth-grade education was recently sentenced to jail in Las Cruces.
- Legal groups, including the ACLU, argue that the zones are unconstitutional and politically unprecedented.
“This is a staggeringly significant expansion of military power on American soil,” civil rights lawyers argued in federal court.
Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, insist the law is clear:
“There’s no issue about whether they were on notice,” said US Attorney Ryan Ellison, following convictions of repeat trespassers.
Local Reactions: Mixed Views in Border Communities
In New Mexico’s Luna County, views are divided.
- Some farmers, like James Johnson, support the tougher stance, saying the military presence brings real deterrence: “This version is trying to give some teeth.”
- Others, including Columbus Mayor Philip Skinner, report little disruption and describe the region as largely immune to partisan national narratives: “We’re kind of not tuned in to this national politics.”
Looking Ahead: Expansion or Reversal?
Despite recent court challenges and public resistance, the Department of Defense has signaled plans to expand these zones further, raising fears of border-wide militarisation.
“If the federal government wants to turn the whole border into a war zone, this is how they’ll do it,” warned ACLU attorney Rebecca Sheff.
For now, the legal, humanitarian, and political battles over these military buffer zones are far from over — with consequences not only for migrants, but also for American civil liberties and public land access.