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US expands militarized zones to 1/3 of southern border, stirring controversy
AP News ^ | Updated 11:14 PM CDT, July 3, 2025 | Morgan Lee

Posted on 07/04/2025 1:57:57 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

COLUMBUS, N.M. (AP) — Orange no-entry signs posted by the U.S. military in English and Spanish dot the New Mexico desert, where a border wall cuts past onion fields and parched ranches with tufts of tall grass growing amidst wiry brush and yucca trees.

The Army has posted thousands of the warnings in New Mexico and western Texas, declaring a “restricted area by authority of the commander.” It’s part of a major shift that has thrust the military into border enforcement with Mexico like never before.

The move places long stretches of the border under the supervision of nearby military bases, empowering U.S. troops to detain people who enter the country illegally and sidestep a law prohibiting military involvement in civilian law enforcement. It is done under the authority of the national emergency on the border declared by President Donald Trump on his first day in office.

U.S. authorities say the zones are needed to close gaps in border enforcement and help in the wider fight against human smuggling networks and brutal drug cartels.

The militarization is being challenged in court, and has been criticized by civil rights advocates, humanitarian aid groups and outdoor enthusiasts who object to being blocked from public lands while troops have free rein.

Abbey Carpenter, a leader of a search-and-rescue group for missing migrants, said public access is being denied across sweltering stretches of desert where migrant deaths have surged.

“Maybe there are more deaths, but we don’t know,” she said.

Military expansion

Two militarized zones form a buffer along 230 miles (370 kilometers) of border, from Fort Hancock, Texas, through El Paso and westward across vast New Mexico ranchlands.

The Defense Department added an additional 250-mile (400-kilometer) zone last week in...

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: border; borderwall; military; newmexico; nm
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1 posted on 07/04/2025 1:57:57 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“Controversy” = anything the Left disagrees with


2 posted on 07/04/2025 2:00:37 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The Trump Administration did something ... stirring controversy.


3 posted on 07/04/2025 2:01:08 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

👍🇺🇸


4 posted on 07/04/2025 2:01:56 PM PDT by MotorCityBuck (Keep the change, you are filthy animal !)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
The primary mission of a military is to protect its country's borders by any and all means necessary

I have spoken

5 posted on 07/04/2025 2:05:53 PM PDT by SecondAmendment (The history of the present Federal Government is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations .)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

You gotta have a military.
The military needs a place to stay and train.
The wave of new recruits since January is huge.
The border has been in an invasion crisis.

Where else you going to put them? Ft Riley? Campbell? Lewis?


6 posted on 07/04/2025 2:07:39 PM PDT by lurk (u)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
US expands militarized zones to 1/3 of southern border, stirring controversy.

US expands militarized zones to 1/3 of southern border, stirring and inspiring more confidence in the safety and security of the United States of America.

There, fixed it

.

7 posted on 07/04/2025 2:11:12 PM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try - AND - Every Time You Fall Down, Get The Frak Up! )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Just Keep OUT!

No problems then.

Simple.


8 posted on 07/04/2025 2:12:23 PM PDT by Paladin2 (YMMV)
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To: Ronaldus Magnus III

Amen!


9 posted on 07/04/2025 2:15:38 PM PDT by TheDon (Remember the J6 political prisoners! Remember Ashli Babbitt!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

https://x.com/WatchChad/status/1940864350782382315?t


10 posted on 07/04/2025 2:15:39 PM PDT by RummyChick
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Asspress always sniffs around for “controversy” that offends their precious Democrats.


11 posted on 07/04/2025 2:21:03 PM PDT by Luke21
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

SCOTUS has consistently ruled—when both Obama & his Mini me Joe were intentionally neglecting their constitutional duty to enforce our immigration law, actually barring Arizona and others from defending themselves from invasion—that our northern and southern border fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.
You can’t have it both ways, traitorous democrats.


12 posted on 07/04/2025 2:27:33 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“…and sidestep a law prohibiting military involvement in civilian law enforcement.”

BULL!!! The most fundamental job of the U.S. military is TO PROTECT THIS NATION FROM INVASION.


13 posted on 07/04/2025 2:32:19 PM PDT by TalBlack (Their god is government. Prepare for a religious war.https://freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=4322961%2)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Is that better or worse that “sparks controversy,” another favorite journalistic cliche


14 posted on 07/04/2025 2:37:42 PM PDT by j.havenfarm (24 years on Free Republic, 12/10/24! More than 10,500 replies and still not shutting up!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

This should have been done decades ago. Make most parts of the border, military bases and military zones. This is a no-brainer. But GW/Obama/Biden were all open borders saboteurs.


15 posted on 07/04/2025 2:37:58 PM PDT by dennisw (There is no limit to human stupidity)
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To: TalBlack

Not to mention it is one of the few enumerated powers of the feral government.


16 posted on 07/04/2025 2:39:39 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Democrats are the Party of anger, hate and violence.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
"...sidestep a law prohibiting military involvement in civilian law enforcement"

Those Wascally Weepublicans, sidestepping the law...


17 posted on 07/04/2025 2:50:21 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“Diversity is our Strength” just doesn’t carry the same message as “Death from Above”)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
From the article:
detaining illegal entrants...sidestep[s] a law prohibiting military involvement in civilian law enforcement.

What law? Clue: it is not the Posse Comitatus Act. That statute prohibits use of military forces in law enforcement against U.S. citizens.

18 posted on 07/04/2025 3:22:49 PM PDT by frog in a pot (We must be increasingly careful about who we choose to be our nation's Commander-in-Chief. )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Why only one-third of the U.S. border with Mexico?


19 posted on 07/04/2025 3:36:32 PM PDT by Savage Beast (Nothing inflames unrest in the delusional, and nothing inflames unrest in the evil, like TRUTH.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
...declared by President Donald Trump on his first day in office.

Dood never sleeps.

20 posted on 07/04/2025 3:38:44 PM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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