According to Reuters, the U.S. Department of Justice has begun its first criminal prosecution for immigration as the court applied for a new declaration established with the Mexican border as a military buffer.

At least 28 immigrants were charged Monday in federal court in Las Cruces, New Mexico for crossing a 170-mile-long 60-foot-wide militarized buffer that was patrolled by active U.S. troops.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the area last week and said it was the beginning of a plan to expand the buffer along the border.

"The reason we're here today is almost the reason why President Trump's administration's 100-day mark is because you're standing in the 'defense zone': it could be a military base, too," Heggss said in a social media video of the Department of Defense. "Any illegal attempt to enter the area will be in the military base."

In a statement last week, the New Mexico Civil Liberties Union said, “As New Mexico, we are very concerned about the increased militarization of border communities.”

“The expansion of military detention forces in the New Mexico National Defense Zone’ (also known as the ‘Border Buffer Zone’) represents a dangerous erosion of constitutional principles that the military should not regulate civilians.”

Immigrants detained in the area are accused of illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and entering restricted areas, court documents show.

According to the Department of Defense, customs and border protection measures maintain jurisdiction over illegal transit in the region, and the troops will hand over detained immigrants to the U.S. Border Patrol or other civilian law enforcement agencies.

U.S. Army spokesman Maj Geoffrey Carmichael said the troops have not arrested any immigrants or other trespassers in the so-called New Mexico defense zone.

The area was created by transferring 110,000 acres (445 square kilometers) of federal land into the U.S. Army.

The idea of ​​militarizing the border has long been a dream for far-right politicians, just like the failed Arizona candidate for the U.S. Senate Blake Masters, who threw campaign ads into the idea in 2022.

The buffer zone allows the Trump administration to use troops to arrest immigrants without invoking the 1807 Insurgency Act, which gives the president the authority to deploy U.S. troops to curb events such as civilian diseases.

The Rebellion Act was last cited during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Government data shows that around 11,900 troops are currently deployed to the southwestern U.S. border, where the number of immigrants illegally crossed in March fell to the lowest level ever recorded.