Active-duty U.S. military personnel are now effectively acting as migrant prison guards

U.S. soliders set up barbed wire at a Border Patrol facility in Donna, Texas

(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

published 26 July 2019

Active-duty U.S. troops have been monitoring migrant adults and children in a Border Patrol holding facility in Donna, Texas, since earlier this summer, but they've effectively morphed into prison guards, continuously watching the migrants for health issues and signs of trouble from raised platforms just feet away from the migrants, two current and two former defense officials tell NBC News. The service members are unarmed and are supposed to refer problems to Customs and Border Protection personnel, but they can respond if a situation warrants immediate attention.

Under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, U.S. military personnel are prohibited from performing law enforcement duties inside the U.S., and monitoring detainees is "probably a bridge too far," one former defense official told NBC News. "They should be way behind the fence of the border to help CBP."

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) told NBC News that the role of the U.S. troops at the Donna facility is "teetering on the edge of the posse comitatus law," and could put the U.S. service members "in a precarious legal situation." He called the new role for the troops deployed to the border by President Trump "certainly mission creep," adding: "It's not the role of the U.S. military to be a prison guard."

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An unidentified U.S. defense official disputed that characterization, saying the troops are monitoring the migrants, not guarding them. John Cornelio, a spokesman for U.S. Northern Command, said the interactions between troops and migrants "is limited as much as possible," and the U.S. military personnel stationed "at the Donna Facility specifically" monitor the migrants "for signs of medical distress, possibility for unrest, unusual behavior, and unresponsiveness." That's "not a law enforcement function," he insisted, "and this activity has been reviewed by our legal staff to ensure compliance with the Posse Comitatus Act and applicable law."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.