A coalition of nonprofits is asking a federal court to overturn the Trump administration’s designation of more than 100,000 acres of public land along the New Mexico border as a military installation. The groups contend that the move unlawfully enables United States troops to assist with immigration enforcement.

The New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Battalion Search and Rescue and Southern Border Communities Coalition filed the lawsuit. They argue that the administration is misusing “national defense areas” to circumvent longstanding restrictions on military participation in civilian law enforcement.

Brian Netter, legal director at Democracy Forward, is part of one of the legal teams representing the plaintiffs. He called the designation “an extraordinary abuse of power with devastating consequences for the people who live, work, worship, recreate, and carry out lifesaving humanitarian work along the border.”

“Public lands do not become military installations simply because the president says so, and the military cannot be handed sweeping new authority to police civilians by drawing a line around land that belonged to the public,” he said, adding, “Our Constitution and laws impose clear limits on the use of the military for civilian law enforcement for a reason.”

The Trump administration began sending troops to the area in March 2025 to support border security. It later expanded the military presence along the border into other states.

By April 2025, the War Department had assumed jurisdiction over 109,651 acres from the Department of the Interior. The land was officially named the New Mexico National Defense Area and designated as an expansion of Fort Huachuca for three years.

The War Department said the designation permitted troops to detain people accused of trespassing inside the military area after illegally crossing the border. The lawsuit challenges the federal government’s claimed authority to move public land under military jurisdiction through emergency powers.

“No statute authorizes the creation of ‘national defense areas,’ let alone permits carving one out of formerly public land,” the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs contend that federal agencies exceeded their legal authority when they transferred control of the land.

The complaint also says the War Department historically used such land restrictions only as temporary measures to protect people or property during emergencies or accidents. The plaintiffs argue that the New Mexico designation departs from that practice.

“Creating a semi-permanent military zone along the southern border for purposes of immigration enforcement is directly contrary to the agency’s longstanding practice,” the lawsuit says. The designation is scheduled to remain in place for three years.

Beyond their allegations of federal law violations, the organizations say the military zones interfere with their work. Their activities include conservation, recreation, support for border communities and humanitarian assistance on public lands.

James R. Holeman, founder of Battalion Search and Rescue, said his organization leads volunteers searching remote areas for people in distress. Volunteers also recover the remains of migrants who died while crossing the border.

Holeman said the group’s monthly searches along the Arizona and New Mexico border uncovered more than 100 death sites during the past three years. “Imagine how many more people could be found if we had the access, resources, and support to search systematically. Instead, we’re being locked out,” he said.

He said vast stretches of the borderlands are “virtually inaccessible to humanitarian searchers” because of federal designations. “Now the government is closing off even more territory. We don’t find weapons or drugs. We find Bibles, prayer cards, love notes, and the belongings of people simply trying to survive,” Holeman said.

“There is no meaningful, systematic government effort to search for the missing and the dead. They don’t search, and now they’re preventing us from searching,” Holeman said. The lawsuit now places the Trump administration’s border security designation and its use of military controlled land before a federal court.

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