Heath Haussamen
The Trump Administration is making plans to designate a stretch of New Mexico’s southern border as a military base, literally expanding militarization to an alarming new level.
The plan would have the Pentagon take control of a 60-foot deep section of land running along the border, the Washington Post is reporting. Because immigrants crossing the border would have technically trespassed onto a military base, that would allow active-duty troops to hold them until civilian law enforcement like the U.S. Border Patrol can take custody.
It’s not clear where in New Mexico the military buffer zone would first be implemented. Would it begin near Sunland Park and stretch west past Columbus toward Arizona? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently visited the border in Sunland Park.
The Post reported that the buffer zone would eventually stretch through New Mexico, Arizona and California using land that was designated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 to deter smuggling goods across the border.
It’s another dangerous political stunt. New Mexico officials understand that.
“The president’s decision to create a deportation buffer zone along New Mexico’s border is a waste of resources and military personnel, especially when migrant crossings are at the lowest level in decades,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a prepared statement.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., agreed.
“New Mexicans deserve policies that are smart, humane, and based on fact, not propaganda,” he said in a news release.
Harming NM’s economy
The industrial park in Santa Teresa could be the most impacted area in New Mexico. It touches the edge of the 60-foot-deep slice of land that could be designated a military base.
Officials have pumped state and federal money into the industrial park for decades. It’s a key part of the state’s plan to diversify its economy beyond the oil and gas industry.
“There’s just so many things that are affecting us right now — the number one thing being tariffs,” Jerry Pacheco, the president and CEO of the Border Industrial Association, said in an interview. His group has spent decades working to build a thriving border economy in Santa Teresa, which is located west of El Paso, Texas.
The news that the industrial park might soon be adjacent to a militarized buffer zone, Pacheco said, “would add to the chaos — and that’s not good for business because businesses want stability.”
In February, an Austin company announced plans to spend more than $5 billion over the next decade to build a campus to house data, manufacturing and logistics centers in Santa Teresa, the El Paso Times reported. And in December, officials announced a $2 billion project to build a much-needed housing development there, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Pacheco said exports from New Mexico increased more than 140 percent in 2024. New Mexico climbed to ninth in terms of U.S. state exports to Mexico, up from 20th. Santa Teresa’s industrial park and border crossing are a big reason for that.
“Little New Mexico is punching above its weight,” Pacheco said. “…We’re finally realizing the dream of the border being a factor in diversifying the state’s economy, and all this chaos is working against that.”
A political spectacle
I’m also thinking of the nearby town of Sunland Park, which is home to about 18,000 people and sits at the intersection of El Paso, Ciudad Juárez in Mexico, and New Mexico beneath Mount Cristo Rey.
I’ve stood at the border fence there, in the historic community of Anapra that the U.S.-Mexico border cut in half, and talked to a child standing on the other side. I’ve spoken with residents on the U.S. side about issues including water quality and infrastructure.
There’s an elementary school 900 yards or so from the border in Sunland Park. There are homes less than 600 yards from the border. Will they suddenly be neighbors with heavily armed U.S. Army soldiers?
That seems to be the plan. The Trump Administration has already deployed soldiers to Fort Huachuca in Southern Arizona and Fort Bliss in El Paso to assist the Border Patrol. Their deployment is expected to include 20-ton armored Stryker combat vehicles.
Those vehicles may soon be stationed along the border in New Mexico. From the Post:
“Pentagon officials have scrutinized several related issues in recent weeks, including whether the Strykers can maneuver effectively in the 60-foot strip of buffer zone, and if they can drive on nearby roads without damaging them, defense officials said.”
I worry about the folks searching for a better life who will encounter U.S. Army soldiers if they get across the border. I also worry about people living in Southern New Mexico who could be caught up in the chaos.
Or, as Timothy Snyder calls it on his Substack, an intentionally designed political spectacle. He was referring to the recent deportations of Venezuelans to El Salvador in violation of a court order and their constitutional rights.
It’s a distraction
To be clear, the authoritarian regime is going to great lengths to distract us with nativist rhetoric and unconstitutional behavior pointed at immigrants while it wrecks the economy and dismantles the U.S. Constitution.
It’s all designed to hold power and win another tax break for billionaires.
Pacheco said the Trump Administration’s narrative that the border is out of control is “absolutely not true.” He correctly noted that apprehensions dropped “to a trickle” after President Joe Biden cut off asylum claims in mid-2024.
“This is like using a sledgehammer to kill an ant,” Pacheco said of the Trump Administration’s approach. “It’s way out of proportion in terms of what’s going on at the border.”
Lujan Grisham’s spokesman, Michael Coleman, said the state is “closely monitoring the situation at the border and weighing our options, including challenging actions in court if and when appropriate.”
I hope the state is ready act swiftly. The Trump Administration has no problem hurting or killing people to accomplish its authoritarian goals. New Mexicans will be caught up in this latest political spectacle.