President Trump instructs federal agencies to allow the US military to control public lands along the border with Mexico to deal with immigrants.
In the memorandum of memory to the Interior Minister Doug Burgum, domestic Security Minister Kristi Noem, Defense Minister Pete Hegseth and Agricultural Minister Brooke Rollins on April 11, President Donald Trump said the US military must play a more direct role in border protection efforts.
Mr. Trump requires relevant agencies to allow the US military to “use and have the right to judge the” strip of public land along the border for military purposes, including building border walls and installing monitoring equipment.
The border gates on the US – Mexico border. Graphic: Geopolitical Futures
Among the public lands that Mr. Trump wanted the US military to take over the Roosevelt reserve, located in three states of California, Arizona and New Mexico. The conservation area was founded by former President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 to combat smuggling between the United States and Mexico.
The US -Mexico border is about 3,200 km long, of which about 2,200 km in Texas. The border line in three states of California, Arizona and New Mexico has a total length of more than 1,000 km, passing through Roosevelt and Tohono Oodhaa National Reserve, belonging to the federal residential reserve system. Trump’s 11/11 memorandum did not mention the Tohono Oodhaa.
According to the memorandum, because President Trump has announced an emergency on the southern border, Minister Burgum may issue a provision at the public land along the border to use. Minister Hegseth can expand its range to additional lands along the border at any time.
Border walls in Douglas, Arizona. Image: AFP
This document paved the way for the US government agencies to consider public land along the border to be a military basis. Any immigrant surpassing this area will be arrested for the act of “infringing upon the military sector”. When being captured by American soldiers, people crossing the border will be held in that area, waiting for the Ministry of Security to send the force to receive and deport.
Immediately after taking office, President Trump ordered the US military to strengthen the presence along the southern border to deal with the wave of immigrants. Thousands of US soldiers arrived at the border with Mexico, mainly supporting the US Customs and Border Guard (CBP) to discover and forced migrants to seek illegal entry into the country.