EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Migrants face a new set of legal and dangerous hurdles if they choose to get to the U.S. illegally, especially in the Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector.
The sector, which stretches from Hudspeth County, Texas, to the Arizona state line, covering New Mexico’s entire border with Mexico, has two newly designated National Defense Areas, or NDAs.
The NDAs — one in Texas and one in New Mexico — are extensions of Fort Huachuca in Arizona and Fort Bliss in Far West Texas, and are best characterized as 60-foot-wide strips of military land that run right along the border. However, federal officials confirmed this week that some undisclosed parts of the NDAs are as wide as a mile.
Officials warn migrants that once they step on U.S. soil, they’re also technically trespassing on military property and face new charges in addition to entering the U.S. illegally.
The Border Patrol also hopes to avoid drownings on the border this summer, now that water has been released from reservoirs in New Mexico into the Rio Grande. It not only fills the Rio Grande, but the irrigation canals that run along the border, posing more trouble for migrants. Those canals, as well as the river itself, have strong undercurrents that can pull down even the most experienced swimmers.
Migrants who cross the border or are smuggled into New Mexico are also exposed to dangerously high temperatures that can cause illness and death.
On Wednesday, the head of the El Paso Sector noted that the U.S. troops and National Guard members, as well as the border wall and border agents on the ground should send a clear message to migrants that they are not allowed to cross.
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In this episode of Border Report Live, El Paso correspondent Julian Resendiz and host Daniel Marine highlight the dangers and ramifications of crossing the border illegally. Plus, what the Border Patrol is doing to get the word out beyond the border about the consequences of entering the U.S. Illegally.
Join the award-winning Border Report team at 1:30 p.m. CT Tuesdays and 3 p.m. CT Thursdays at borderreport.com for a weekly, live, in-depth discussion about people living, working and migrating along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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You can also watch past episodes of the Border Report Live, highlighting not only immigration and border security, but cartel violence in Mexico and the countries’ ongoing water dispute on the border.
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