New Mexico Game and Fish warns hunters about national defense site along border

Some hunting grounds across New Mexico have gone from open season to off limits after the federal government staked its claim on a strip of land along the southern border for immigration enforcement.

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish sent a message Friday alerting hunters that some areas of Hidalgo, Luna and Doña Ana counties will no longer be accessible.

That’s because the U.S. Army designated those portions of New Mexico as a National Defense Area (NDA), barring people from accessing those regions without prior approval.

The military zone was designated by the Department of Defense, at the behest of the White House, earlier this year as a way to charge migrants with additional crimes for crossing illegally into the U.S. The defense areas stretch about 180 miles in New Mexico, including in game management units used for hunting.

Game and Fish said the Army has developed a protocol for hunters wishing to access the NDA, including having to submit information for a visitor access badge and pass a background check.

“Upon receipt of a visitor access badge, individuals will need to follow the guidelines in the U.S. Army’s memorandum,” according to the release.

The Army has tied the designation of defense areas in that region to Fort Huachuca, a U.S. Army installation located in southeast Arizona, 15 miles north of Mexico’s border and more than 100 miles from the closest New Mexico county, Hidalgo.

The U.S. Army, in the memorandum, said the defense area was set to “ensure Fort Huachuca is in compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Direction 12, which requires 100% of visitors to be vetted prior to entering the installation unescorted.”

According to a memo from the U.S. Army, the defense area was designed to “ensure sustainable management of natural resources, particularly wildlife, on military installations while also balancing all recreational activities.”

On Friday, the Department of Justice said 42 more migrants were charged with entering military property “arising from the newly established National Defense Area.” The DOJ sends such updates weekly, calling the cases part of Operation Take Back America, with hundreds of migrants being charged in the past several months.

Many charges based on defense area entry have been dismissed.

Hunters seeking game in the NDA must follow the protocols for access, the Army memo stated.

“Failure to comply may lead to being detained or charged with unlawful entry onto a military installation,” according to the memo.

Hunters will be required to wear proper protective clothing, have all recreational vehicles registered as off-highway vehicles and comply with all Game and Fish rules, the memo said. Shooting within a quarter mile of any buildings, vehicles, “people or border wall” is strictly prohibited.