Lawsuit challenges ‘national defense area’ in New Mexico

Established in April 2025 to “seal” the southwestern U.S. border, New Mexico’s national defense area covers about 170 to 200 miles of southern border land in Hidalgo, Luna and Doña Ana counties. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Pacific Border Task Force works on border barrier installation at National Defense Area One, or NDA-1, near Antelope Wells, N.M. (Robert DeDeaux/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) (Tribune News Service) — Volunteers who search for lost, missing or deceased migrants are stymied. Hunters and birdwatchers can’t readily enjoy their hobbies, and border advocacy groups have curtailed their work. The Trump administration’s decision to turn at least 100,000 acres along the U.S.-New Mexico border into a restricted military zone has effectively increased potential penalties for those who cross illegally, but is also harming U.S.

citizens, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque on Thursday. The plaintiffs, which include the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, are asking a federal judge to declare the government’s designation of the state’s so-called “national defense area” as unlawful. “The goal here is to end the designation of the land at issue as a ‘national defense area’ and return it to the public for the uses it has long served,” said Albuquerque attorney Mark T. Baker, who represents three organizations that filed the case. “Our clients’