82 People Charged with “unauthorized entry into the newly-designated National Defense Area" in New Mexico

Eight two people were charged with the misdemeanor offenses of violating security regulations and entering military property on Monday in Las Cruces, and more than 60 defendants packed a courtroom Friday morning to be arraigned, with most facing the new immigration-related charges.

U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison announced concerning these court hearings that the filing of 82 new Title 50 charges for unauthorized entry into the newly-designated National Defense Area along New Mexico’s southern border, following a high-level visit with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks.

The charges mark the first large-scale use of a novel criminal statute targeting unauthorized entry onto federally protected military defense property, a move enabled by the recent transfer of control over a 170-mile stretch of borderland-known as the Roosevelt Reservation-from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Defense for total of 109,651 acres (44,400 hectares) of federal land, previously held by the Department of the Interior was transferred.

This corridor, now treated as an extension of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachuca, is subject to enhanced military patrols and surveillance, with U.S. troops authorized to temporarily detain and transfer individuals to federal law enforcement for prosecution.

The newly filed Title 50 charges carry potential penalties of up to one year in prison, supplementing existing immigration-related offenses.

Court records show that dozens of people apprehended in the new Roosevelt Reservation have been charged with three federal misdemeanors. They are: 

Entry or attempted entry by an alien of the United States — a charge long used in immigration cases.

Penalty for violation of security regulations and orders, described as a “Title 50” violation of defense property regulations.

Entering military, naval or coast guard property.

“The newly filed Title 50 charges carry potential penalties of up to one year in prison, supplementing existing immigration-related offenses,” Ellison’s statement said.

The action is intended “to gain 100% operational control of New Mexico’s 170mile border with Mexico,” Ellison said.

The narrow 170-mile corridor is now considered an extension of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachuca in southeastern Arizona.

The corridor “is subject to enhanced military patrols and surveillance, with U.S. troops authorized to temporarily detain and transfer individuals to federal law enforcement for prosecution,” said a statement issued Thursday by U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison, an Alamogordo native sworn into office April 18, 2025. 

But whether those crossing into the zone over the past week knew they would be subject to additional criminal charges wasn’t so clear. The criminal complaints filed in the cases state that "signs were posted along the NM National Defense Areas stating in both English and Spanish that this is a restricted area.” However, the complaints don’t say how many signs were posted or their size or spacing.

The Justice Department’s actions underscore a coordinated federal response to border security, leveraging expanded military and prosecutorial authority to deter unlawful crossings.

“The Department of Justice will work hand in glove with the Department of Defense and Border Patrol to gain 100% operational control of New Mexico’s 170-mile border with Mexico,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison reiterated following the meeting. “Trespassers into the National Defense Area will be Federally prosecuted—no exceptions.”

Amid the cases filed the federal courts are confused with the prosecutions. 

The chief federal magistrate judge in Las Cruces filed an order Thursday asking the U.S. Attorney’s Office and defense counsel to explain what evidence is needed to find a defendant guilty.

For instance, would a defendant need to know that the property he or she entered is military property? Does the defendant need to know that the military property was restricted to entry?

Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory B. Wormuth on Thursday ordered federal prosecutors to demonstrate how people charged with entering a “national defense area” are alerted that they are entering an area under military control.

The order asks prosecutors to “establish that a defendant possesses the requisite mens rea,” or a knowledge of wrongdoing, required for any criminal prosecution.

“The scarcity of caselaw relating to these offenses, particularly given the unprecedented nature of prosecuting such offenses in this factual context, leaves the Court unclear about the mens rea standard as applied in these cases,” Wormuth wrote in the order.

The 82 apprehensions were made by Border Patrol agents from the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station, federal court records show.

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