Trump Authorizes Military Occupation Of Public Land Along Southern Border To Repel Migrant ‘Invasions’

President Donald Trump signed a memorandum authorizing a “military mission for sealing the southern border of the United States and repelling invasions,” giving the U.S. military the ability to occupy public land along the border in order to secure it.

The directive, released late Friday, allows the military to use federal lands for military activities, including constructing border barriers and using “detection and monitoring equipment” to deter would-be migrant invaders.

“Our southern border is under attack from a variety of threats. The complexity of the current situation requires that our military take a more direct role in securing our southern border than in the recent past,” Trump’s memorandum states. Friday’s memo cited an executive order Trump signed on day one of his second term, in which he “assigned the Armed Forces of the United States the military missions of repelling the invasion and sealing the United States southern border from unlawful entry to maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States.”