During Tuesday’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, announced that at least 90 miles of Texas border will be placed under federal military jurisdiction.
Leavitt did not specify when the transfer will take place, or in what section of the Texas border. Last Friday, President Donald Trump issued a memorandum authorizing the U.S. military to take control of parts of a federal strip of land along the U.S.-Mexico border known as the Roosevelt Reservation.
The Roosevelt Reservation is a 60-foot-wide strip of land that runs along the southern edge of California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The directive excluded sovereign tribal lands.
The Border Chronicle reached out to the Department of Defense for additional information. A spokesperson said the DOD is waiting for the White House to make the determination. “It’s still pre decisional,” she said. “The Department of Defense, doesn’t have further information. It would have to come from the White House. We are actively planning for the part that’s the Roosevelt Reservation, but I don’t have any further information about what lands in Texas would be part of that,” she said.
When pressed further for a timeline, the DOD spokesperson said “At this point, you know as much as we do,” she said. “We’re aware that that is something that could happen, but we don’t have any further information about where that land would come from.”
The Border Chronicle sought additional information from the office of the Texas Governor. But the governor’s press spokesperson declined to comment in an email.
At the White House press briefing Tuesday, Leavitt said Friday’s order included 170 miles of federal land under federal military control, in addition to the 90 miles in Texas announced today.
The Border Chronicle will have a more in-depth article on the military expansion on the border Thursday with additional updates and information.
Read more about Trump’s memorandum from last Friday here:
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