US begins prosecuting migrants for breaching ‘military zone’ near border

The court filings follow a decision to designate a strip of border land in New Mexico as a ‘national defence area’.

The United States has announced its first criminal prosecutions against migrants and asylum seekers accused of crossing into a newly created military zone along the country’s border with Mexico.

Court filings submitted on Monday – and reviewed by US media the following day – show that approximately 28 people have been charged with “violations of security regulations” for breaching the military zone.

That charge, though a misdemeanour, carries the possibility of heightened penalties. The US Code stipulates that violations of security regulations can result in a fine of up to $100,000 for individuals or up to a year in prison – or both.

Normally, the consequences for unlawful entry into the US are less severe. But as the administration of President Donald Trump ramps up its crackdown on immigration, critics warn of the growing militarisation of the southern border region neighbouring Mexico.

The new charges were made possible by the establishment of the “New Mexico National Defence Area” on April 18.

The Department of Defense ordered that an Army installation called Fort Huachuca be expanded to include 109,651 acres (44,400 hectares) of federal land, previously held by the Department of the Interior.

The transfer is effective for three years and turns a strip of border land adjacent to Mexico into a US military zone, where trespassing carries serious consequences. That military zone notably overlaps with routes that migrants and asylum seekers have taken to enter the US irregularly, without official paperwork.

Successive presidential administrations, however, have sought to limit asylum applicants from crossing into the US outside of official ports of entry, despite US and international law that protects the right to flee persecution.

The threat of increased penalties has been one of the tools used as deterrence.

Last week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited the recently established military zone, where he touted the strip as a new line of defence against what he called an “invasion” of migrants and asylum seekers.

“This is Department of Defense property. The National Defense Area, formerly known as the Fort Huachuca annex zone, is federal property. Any illeg