immigration border enforcement military.

U.S. troops have begun directly detaining immigrants accused of trespassing on a recently designated national defense zone along the southern U.S. border. The effort is an escalation of the military’s enforcement roles. U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Chad Campbell described in detail during a news conference Wednesday the first detentions by troops last week of three immigrants accused of military-zone trespassing in New Mexico. Those migrants were quickly turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for processing. Troops generally are prohibited from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil under the Posse Comitatus Act, with some exceptions.