The transfer of the 60’ wide #RooseveltReservation land from the Dept of #the Interior to the Dept of #Defense [greatly] expanded the #Pentagon’s authorities to patrol the land, allowing US #troops to temporarily detain migrants they encounter rather than simply calling #law enforcement authorities.

#FortHuachuca is in #Arizona, where a #military unit known as the Joint Task Force Southern Border has headquarters & is overseeing the military buildup across much of the #border.

The Trump admin has surged thousands of #troops & armored Stryker combat vehicles to the southern border in his goal to obtain “100%” operational control of the boundary w/ #Mexico.

The #Defense-related charge alleges that migrants “willfully violated the order issued on April 18, 2025, by the US #Army Garrison #FortHuachuca #military commander designating the #NewMexico #NationalDefenseArea, also known as the #RooseveltReservation, as both a restricted area & a controlled area under Army Regulation 190-13,” which prohibits unauthorized entry.

Details on the initial charges filed are sparse in court records, but the allegations mirror the routes that migrants have traversed for years, with people stumbling into the area around Doña Ana County. Instead of being charged only with one count of “Illegal Entry Without Inspection” they now face a second charge, “Penalty for Violation of Security Regulations.”

“You cross our border illegally, you will see them,” #PeteHegseth said of the signs on April 25,…speaking to cameras for #propaganda later posted to the #DOD’s X account. “It’s clearly posted. And when you ignore them, you will be prosecuted.”

#Hegseth said Friday that he met the #USAttorney in #NewMexico, Ryan Ellison, & that the prosecutor “can’t wait” to begin charging those who cross into the area.

Both #crimes are punishable by a year or less in #prison. But #Defense Secy #PeteHegseth said in a visit to the #border in #NewMexico last week that migrants could face MORE prison time for illegal crossings. Standing…along the border Friday, he held up signs he said were being posted in English & Spanish warning migrants against entering the #MilitaryZone.

At least 28 migrants were charged Monday w/crossing into the 170-mile long “#NationalDefenseArea,” a 60-foot strip of land that stretches across the bottom of #NewMexico & has effectively been turned into part of a US #military installation. Prosecutors added the new charge of violating security regulations in US District Court in Las Cruces to the more common misdemeanor of entering the #UnitedStates illegally.

"Capitalism and extreme poverty: A global analysis of real wages, human height, and mortality since the long 16th century
[…]
• Data on real wages suggests that, historically, extreme poverty was uncommon and arose primarily during periods of severe social and economic dislocation, particularly under colonialism.
• The rise of capitalism from the long 16th century onward is associated with a decline in wages to below subsistence, a deterioration in human stature, and an upturn in premature mortality.
• In parts of South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, wages and/or height have still not recovered."

Sullivan, Hickel, 2022 : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X22002169

@histodons