Yuma, Arizona (azfamily) – The US military is expanding its presence along the southern border, and its expansion now includes Arizona.
US authorities have confirmed with CNN that 100 miles of land near the Yuma border will be designated as a defense zone and will effectively provide military personnel authority to temporarily detain migrants who enter the zone.
The area serves as an extension of Marine Corps Air Base Yuma and is part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to stop illegal crossings by increasing military enforcement at the border.
The Department of Defense began deploying these military zones in Texas and New Mexico in April. Arizona is the next state to be added to the initiative.
Under policy, national defense regions are treated like military facilities. Anyone who catches a trespassing can face a fee.
Some support military presence, while those raising concerns, particularly environmental advocates, are environmental advocates who argue that the move threatens protected public lands.
“The attacks on our public lands are highly concerned and potentially dangerous,” said Southwest conservation advocate Raiken Jordar, who is known to be expected to cover a border area of about 100 miles.
After years of working to protect Arizona’s borderland, Jordar worries that the new designation will close critical conservation work, particularly on hundreds of miles of public land currently restricted.
“Even while we’re doing our job there’s a real fear of getting caught up in these zones,” he said.
Similar military areas in New Mexico have already been arrested. Federal officials say hundreds of migrants are being detained for trespassing. However, in March, a federal judge dismissed dozens of these cases and ruled that the government had not proven it knew that immigration was in a restricted military zone.
“The military says it has made more than 100 signs to warn that immigrants are trespassing, but we’re talking about more than 100 miles of border,” Jordar said.
The AZ family contacted Marine Corps Air Base Yuma for details on how the military zone was implemented. No responses were received at the time of publication.
For now, the zone is expected to cover almost 100 miles of border zone, covering most of the territory patrolled by Yumasector’s border patrol, which currently oversees the roughly 130 miles of Arizona’s southern border.
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