Justice Dept. Says Military Can Pursue Border Crossers Slightly Beyond Defense Zones

On Friday, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel told the Pentagon that soldiers may pursue illegal border crossers a few steps beyond the perimeter of a National Defense Area without breaching the Posse Comitatus Act, according to Deputy Assistant Attorney General William Hyde. He argued that a commander’s traditional protective authority over federal installations allows such actions, a principle long recognized by military doctrine.

The guidance relies on two misdemeanor statutes that punish unauthorized entry onto military property and violations of Defense Department security regulations, with immigration charges added when the individual is undocumented. The legal framework revives the Roosevelt Reservation, a 60-foot strip created in 1907 and recently reclassified as Defense Areas in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. While supporters cite a sharp drop in border apprehensions since the policy’s rollout, civil-rights groups caution that the expansive zones risk ensnaring innocent hikers, ranchers or hunters, a point underscored by magistrate rulings dismissing trespassing charges for lack of notice. The article argues that better signage and limiting zones to high-traffic corridors would address due-process concerns without abandoning the defense-area strategy.