NATIONAL DEFENSE AREAS ON THE US SOUTHERN BORDER: WHAT THEY ARE & MEAN

The extent of the land along the United States’ southern border under the oversight of the American military will expand yet again to include most of the area where the state of California abuts Mexico.

On December 10th, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced that the United States Navy would take over jurisdiction of nearly 800 acres of public land in southern California along the border stretching across most of the area between the city of Chula Vista and the western border of Arizona.

This area is now deemed a National Defense Area (NDA), making it a formally militarized zone of the USA, the latest such region given that designation since the beginning of the second administration of President Donald Trump. But what exactly does making part of the country an NDA mean?

What Is a National Defense Area?

Simply speaking, a National Defense Area is a stretch of federally owned land that is under the direct control of the United States Armed Forces.

In essence, it turns the territory included into a formal military base, giving one or more branches of the military and the Department of Defense/War full control and jurisdiction over it, the same as on any permanent military installation.

It’s a fairly new term, created as part of the President’s April memoranda detailing what he dubbed the “Military Mission for Sealing the Southern Border of the United States and Repelling Invasions.”

How Many National Defense Areas Are There?

As of now, there are five established NDAs on the southern border, stretching across regions of every US state that touches Mexico.

The first, established in April by the abovementioned memoranda issued by President Trump, encompassed land along the New Mexico/Mexico border that currently counts as an extended part of Fort Huachuca.

Another was established later that month, setting up a similar zone in Texas under the auspices of Fort Bliss.

The third, established on the southernmost stretch of the Texas border in July, is under the authority of Joint Base San Antonio.

And the fourth went into effect in August to put 32 square miles of land in Arizona under the control of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

The new one in California, which is controlled by the Navy but has not been officially announced as being attached to a specific base yet, is number five.

Why Were These US Militarized Zones Created?

The purpose behind these National Defense Areas is to allow the military to play a formal, direct role in enforcing the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies and objectives along the US border with Mexico.

It allows military personnel operating in these areas to treat anyone who enters them the same as if they were trespassing on the grounds of an established base, thereby giving the thousands of troops deployed to these regions the right to apprehend anyone they discover attempting to cross the border.

Thus, the designation of these militarized zones allows the military to act in place of US Border Patrol agents, who can concentrate their work of patrolling the border to sections not yet designated as NDAs.

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