Breaking News: White House Says New Section of Texas Border to be Under Federal Military Jurisdiction

In Tuesday briefing, White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, says at least 90 miles of Texas border to be included under last Friday’s executive order.

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Border Militarization
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April 15, 2025

During Tuesday’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, announced that at least 90 miles of Texas border will be placed under federal military jurisdiction.

Leavitt did not specify when the transfer will take place, or in what section of the Texas border. Last Friday, President Donald Trump issued a memorandum authorizing the U.S. military to take control of parts of a federal strip of land along the U.S.-Mexico border known as the Roosevelt Reservation.

The Roosevelt Reservation is a 60-foot-wide strip of land that runs along the southern edge of California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The directive excluded sovereign tribal lands.

The Border Chronicle reached out to the Department of Defense for additional information. A spokesperson said the DOD is waiting for the White House to make the determination. “It’s still pre decisional,” she said. “The Department of Defense, doesn’t have further information. It would have to come from the White House. We are actively planning for the part that’s the Roosevelt Reservation, but I don’t have any further information about what lands in Texas would be part of that,” she said.

When pressed further for a timeline, the DOD spokesperson said “At this point, you know as much as we do,” she said. “We’re aware that that is something that could happen, but we don’t have any further information about where that land would come from.”

The Border Chronicle sought additional information from the office of the Texas Governor. But the governor’s press spokesperson declined to comment in an email.

At the White House press briefing Tuesday, Leavitt said Friday’s order included 170 miles of federal land under federal military control, in addition to the 90 miles in Texas announced today.

The Border Chronicle will have a more in-depth article on the military expansion on the border Thursday with additional updates and information.

Read more about Trump’s memorandum from last Friday here:

Author
Melissa del Bosque

Melissa del Bosque is Co-founder and Executive Director of The Border Chronicle. Melissa has written about the U.S.-Mexico border since 1998 for various media outlets, including ProPublica, The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Texas Observer, and The Intercept.

Her work has been recognized with numerous U.S. and international journalism awards, including a Gabo Award and the Internacional Rey de España de Periodismo award, as the U.S.-Mexico investigations editor for Lighthouse Reports. In 2020, del Bosque received the RFK Human Rights Journalism Award as part of a ProPublica group reporting project “Inside the Border Patrol.” In 2016, she received the Hillman Prize for her investigative feature “Death on Sevenmile Road” about the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2015, del Bosque’s four-part series with The Guardian on migrant deaths in South Texas won an Emmy and a National Magazine Award. 

Del Bosque is also the author of Bloodlines: The True Story of a Drug Cartel, the FBI and the Battle for a Horse-Racing Dynasty. She has a Master’s in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master’s in Public Health from the Texas A&M School of Rural Public Health, and a Bachelor’s in poetry and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

In her spare time, Melissa loves to travel, spend time with her family, and explore the Sonoran Desert.

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