El Paso, Texas— In an order issued last week, President Trump authorized the military to take control of a 700-mile-long and 60-foot-deep strip of federal land along the United States-Mexico border stretching from California to New Mexico, claiming that the country is “under attack from a variety of threats.”
It is an attempt to circumvent the prohibition on using the military for domestic law enforcement by converting the land into an Army base.
Before the order was issued, the Army delivered more than 50 armored Stryker fighting vehicles to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, on April 5.
They are designed for the battlefield and are a key component of President Trump’s plan to secure the southern border.
“No weapons system, we’re just using the capability of the cameras for scanning and detecting,” said Sgt. 1st Class Carlos Zamorra, one of the soldiers using thermal and infrared cameras on the Stryker to monitor even the smallest movements along the border.
The Stryker can detect “a little mouse up to like a mile away,” Zamorra said.
With the Strykers and soldiers, Mr. Trump is constructing a border barrier that is more than just a wall. It means that migrants will cross from Mexico into a military facility, allowing soldiers to make arrests. Until now, that job was reserved for the United States Border Patrol, as well as state and local police.
The Strykers can carry up to nine people. The ones at Fort Bliss have been stationary, but they can be deployed on patrol if Border Patrol requires it.
Immediately after beginning his second term, the president declared a national emergency along the nearly 2,000-mile southern border and directed the Defense Department to deploy troops there. To date, approximately 7,000 Marines and Army soldiers have been deployed to secure it.
Border Patrol agent Orlando Marrero-Rubio explains that, even though southern border crossings have decreased dramatically since January, agents still require the additional observational assistance provided by the Strykers.
“Yes, we do, because the terrain is very tricky,” Marrero-Rubio said.
Marrero-Rubio demonstrated to CBS News how improved access to congested crossing zones had helped significantly reduce border crossings prior to the Army’s arrival.
According to data from US Customs and Border Protection, there were approximately 7,200 illegal border crossings in March. Some days in 2023 saw more than 10,000 people cross.
And on a recent morning on Mount Cristo Rey in Sunland Park, New Mexico, where foot trails have been worn into the hillside, a CBS News crew saw no one attempting to cross.