Military presence along U.S.-Mexico border increasing despite crash that killed U.S. Marines

Authorities on Thursday were investigating a vehicle accident near El Paso, Texas, that killed two Marines and seriously injured a third who had been deployed to the southern border region as part of President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The crash occurred at about 9 a.m. Tuesday, near the U.S. Border Patrol station along New Mexico Highway 9. It runs mostly along the U.S.-Mexico border from Santa Teresa to New Mexico’s border with Arizona.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and airlifted three patients to a hospital in Las Cruces, New Mexico, officials said.

“Two of the service members were killed while one remains in serious condition at a local medical facility,” officials with Joint Task Force Southern Border said in a statement. “The names of the deceased will not be released until the next of kin have been notified.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday said he was “very saddened” to learn of the fatal crash.

“My heartfelt condolences and prayers are with them, their families and the units,” Mr. Hegseth said in a statement.

President Trump declared a national emergency at the nearly 2,000-mile southern border immediately after the start of his second term. About 7,000 Marines and Army soldiers were deployed to the border to support the mission.

Border Patrol agents encountered only 200 illegal immigrants one day last month, the lowest number of apprehensions in a single day in more than 15 years, Department of Homeland Security officials said.

“President Trump and [DHS Secretary Kristi] Noem have sent a clear message to the illegal aliens: do not come to our country. You will not be allowed in, and if you get in, we will hunt you down and deport you,” Homeland Security officials said.

Last week, Mr. Trump signed a national security memorandum directing the Pentagon to accept law enforcement jurisdiction of a strip of federal land along the border.

Commonly known as the “Roosevelt Reservation,” it is a 60-foot-wide section that stretches across California, Arizona and New Mexico.

Most of the land along the border in Texas is privately owned.

“Our southern border is under attack from a variety of threats,” Mr. Trump said in the memorandum. “The complexity of the current situation requires that our military take a more direct role in securing our southern border than in the recent past.”

Once the Army accepts jurisdiction of the land, it will become part of a national defense area and be considered an extension of Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

“Service members stationed at the border and operating on that land will have greater authority to execute their mission,” a Defense Department official said. “They will be governed by the same rules as when they are defending any other military installation, such as apprehending trespassers and passing them to the appropriate civilian or federal law enforcement officials.”

While several cities have declared themselves as sanctuary cities and have refused to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, military personnel deployed to the southern border area will continue to work closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel to repel illegal immigrants, narcotics trafficking and human smuggling, Defense Department officials said.