The US military has established a second National Defense Area along the Mexican border, this time in Texas, which stretches 100 kilometers east from El Paso. This comes after the establishment of a comparable zone in New Mexico last month, Al Jazeera reported.

These zones allow military forces to briefly hold migrants or trespassers before turning them over to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or other law enforcement organizations. The measure broadens the military's role in border policing without invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act, which restricts domestic military deployments.

In New Mexico, 82 migrants have been charged for entering the authorized zone, but none have been arrested by troops. Approximately 11,900 US troops are now stationed along the border, as stated by Al Jazeera.

The expansion comes amid President Donald Trump's broader immigration crackdown, with deportations rising and illegal border crossings falling to a historic low in March, according to government data.