WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday issued a directive ordering the military to assume control of specific federal lands along the U.S.-Mexico border, in a move aimed at intensifying efforts to curb illegal crossings.

In a memo sent to four Cabinet secretaries — Doug Burgum (Interior), Kristi Noem (Homeland Security), Pete Hegseth (Defense), and Brooke Rollins (Agriculture) — Trump instructed the agencies to grant the Department of Defense full "use and jurisdiction" over key border areas, including the Roosevelt Reservation, a federally owned 60-foot-wide strip of land that spans parts of California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

The memo calls for these lands to be designated as a "military installation," allowing military personnel to conduct operations such as building the border wall, installing surveillance systems, and patrolling the area.

However, the directive clarifies that military forces will not have authority to carry out immigration arrests. Instead, they will be empowered to intercept individuals and request the assistance of U.S. Border Patrol agents to take migrants into custody, according to a Defense Department official cited by *The New York Times*.

Federal Indian Reservations are explicitly excluded from the directive.

The White House and Pentagon have not commented on the order, which marks a significant expansion of the military’s role in domestic border enforcement. — Agencies