The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico expressed opposition to the increased military role at the southern border. Recent changes grant military personnel the power to detain civilians, conduct physical searches, enforce crowd control, and help with barrier installations in the "New Mexico National Defense Area."
Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico, stated, “As New Mexicans, we have deep concerns about the enhanced militarization of our borderlands communities. The expansion of military detention powers in the 'New Mexico National Defense Area'—also known as the 'border buffer zone'—represents a dangerous erosion of the constitutional principle that the military should not be policing civilians."
Sheff noted that the new measures resemble "Texas’s Operation Lone Star on steroids," posing a threat to established relationships with Mexican communities. She continued, "By authorizing service members to detain, search, and conduct 'crowd control,' these new authorities undermine our state's values of dignity, respect, and community. We don't want militarized zones where border residents—including U.S. citizens—face potential prosecution simply for being in the wrong place."
Sheff emphasized that such measures threaten "both our civil liberties and the cultural fabric that makes our borderlands unique."
