US increases border protection

 Newsmax:

Orange no-entry signs posted by the U.S. military in English and Spanish dot the New Mexico desert, where a border wall cuts past onion fields and parched ranches with tufts of tall grass growing amidst wiry brush and yucca trees.

The Army has posted thousands of the warnings in New Mexico and western Texas, declaring a "restricted area by authority of the commander." It's part of a major shift that has thrust the military into border enforcement with Mexico like never before.

The move places long stretches of the border under the supervision of nearby military bases, empowering U.S. troops to detain people who enter the country illegally and sidestep a law prohibiting military involvement in civilian law enforcement. It is done under the authority of the national emergency on the border declared by President Donald Trump on his first day in office.

U.S. authorities say the zones are needed to close gaps in border enforcement and help in the wider fight against human smuggling networks and brutal drug cartels.

The militarization is being challenged in court, and has been criticized by civil rights advocates, humanitarian aid groups, and outdoor enthusiasts who object to being blocked from public lands while troops have free rein.

Abbey Carpenter, a leader of a search-and-rescue group for missing migrants, said public access is being denied across sweltering stretches of desert where migrant deaths have surged.

"Maybe there are more deaths, but we don't know," she said.

Two militarized zones form a buffer along 230 miles of border, from Fort Hancock, Texas, through El Paso and westward across vast New Mexico ranchlands.

The Defense Department added an additional 250-mile zone last week in Texas' Rio Grande Valley and plans another near Yuma, Arizona. Combined, the zones will cover nearly one-third of the U.S. border with Mexico.
...

I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley and have since been active along several stretches of the Texas border all the way to El Paso.  I have been on the Mexican side of the border from Matamoris to Juaraz.  I particularly like shopping at the markets in those Mexican border cities.  While I have spent time in New Mexico, I have not explored the Mexican cites near its border.

The crossings were migrant deaths are happening has a sparse population becasue the heat can be intense and there is little shade.