Customs and Border Protection says signs have been placed denoting a new military zone along the border in southwestern Arizona.
The Yuma National Defense Area, or NDA, is the third such zone along the border so far — additional NDAs were set up earlier this year in Texas and New Mexico.
The area will encompass part of a 60-foot strip of federal land called the Roosevelt Reservation — which runs the length of the international boundary in Arizona, California and New Mexico.
Bill Banks, a law professor at Syracuse University who specializes in military issues, says he sees the zones are largely symbolic for the Trump administration.
“You know, they’re narrow little strips of land, no operations can effectively be conducted on such a small piece, and again, if there’s an interest in conducting an operation there, they have very little authority to do so,” he said.
Banks says significant military action would require sign off from the state it’s happening in, or a federal declaration like the Insurrection Act.
“Again the states can’t be commandeered, so they can undertake a federal operation there, on federal authority, but to do something in a military zone is going to require authority independent of the mere zone,” he said.
Still, people caught crossing the newly established zones could be subject to temporary detainment by military personnel and arrest by the U.S. Border Patrol. They also face charges for trespassing on military property — on top of any immigration-related charges.
The Department of Interior transferred some 32 miles of public land right along the border to the Defense Department for the Yuma Zone last month. Back then, the agency said that would be the eastern section of the zone ,and the western portion was still forthcoming.
The Trump administration originally said the zone would span 140 miles. But, a map of its entirety has still not been released. Myles Traphagen, borderlands program coordinator with the Wildlands Network, says that leaves big questions.
“No spatial coordinates given, no maps, nothing specific on where properties would be under military control,” he said.
Traphagen says many people use online mapping tools to orient themselves, and may not know they’re crossing into a military area.
“Outdoor recreationists, hunters, and hikers, and basically anybody are basically relying on these tools that help locate where you are,” he said. "How can anybody be held liable when the products that they’re holding in their hands tell them otherwise, and the actual data have not been released?”
Customs and Border Protection says signs denoting the zone have been placed, but didn’t provide total mileage. A Department of Defense spokesperson said a map of the area was not yet available.
