‘The U.S. Constitution is clear’: To curb illegal crossings, military takes control of large swaths of southwest border

As of February 2026, the U.S. Air Force has expanded its control over the Texas-Mexico border by adding 190 miles of newly militarized National Defense Areas (NDAs) to the 250 miles of Rio Grande riverbank the branch already managed.

The additions include a 150-mile stretch termed “NDA 6” that stretches from Falcon Dam to Del Rio, as well as a 40-mile extension to the existing “NDA 3” that goes upriver to Roma, Texas.

Since last April, the Trump administration has established NDAs in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, extending from Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps bases. By July, these agreements encompassed approximately one-third of the U.S.-Mexico border.

WorldNetDaily spoke to national security expert and retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Darin Gaub. The former UH-60 Black Hawk pilot and battalion commander acknowledged that, under normal circumstances, U.S. military supervision of the border would not be necessary. However, the last five years have been anything but ordinary, he said, particularly due to the record-high levels of border crossings allowed by the Biden administration.

“Although Customs and Border Protection still has primary responsibility,” Gaub explained, “the military remains necessary until deportation proceedings are under control and the border wall is completed.”

“The reason this is true is because the military provides the manpower and equipment necessary to fill shortages, while the CBP is also operating within American cities to find and deport the criminal invaders who illegally crossed out borders in large numbers during the Biden administration,” he added.

When asked to explain the necessity and the legality of the military’s actions taken along the U.S. border region, Gaub said, “The U.S. Constitution is clear in this matter and, in fact, dictates a tough response.” In Article IV, Section 4, he said, the federal government’s duty is to protect the nation from foreign invasion and to guarantee a republican form of government.

Article 4, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution says:

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

“Mass illegal migrations are an invasion, and that invasion destroys a republican form of government of, by, and for the citizens of this nation,” he argued. “To fail to aggressively pursue this constitutionally mandated duty should be considered high treason.”

According to CBP data, there were 2.1 million southwest land border encounters in 2024, which clearly aligns with Gaub’s definition of mass illegal migration – in other words, invasion. Certainly, this number is significantly higher than the roughly 443,671 encounters recorded in 2025. However, there are those who seem willing to accept the hundreds of thousands crossing the border, and who consider military intervention to be unwarranted.

Take, for example, in the report published on Feb. 10 by Defense One, Jennifer Kavanagh, a senior fellow and the director of military analysis at the Defense Priorities think tank, stated, “If you believe the [Trump] administration’s line that there’s basically no more illegal immigration, it seems that the step is probably unnecessary, [and she] can’t really see a rationale for doing it.”

Gaub responded with a strong counterargument, saying, “There is only one acceptable number when it comes to illegal aliens invading the U.S., and that number is zero.”

Because various CBP personnel are active in cities across the country rather than being stationed at the border, the military is the most effective solution to cover any gaps. This way, said Gaub, “we do not lose momentum, or the ability to stop a border surge should one occur.”

“Shutting down illegal border crossings has the immediate effect of limiting the damage done to the U.S. by the criminals who can no longer come to the United States in large quantities and make our cities unsafe,” Gaub asserted. “Secondary to that effect is the fact that these criminals can no longer take jobs from Americans and then send their paychecks to foreign nations.”

According to him, too many countries’ economies rely on money flowing out of the United States, and since these payments are primarily made in cash and off the books, they evade taxes. Meanwhile, he pointed out, American citizens are left to shoulder the weight of high taxes.

He further noted that “Shutting off the flow of illegals means our census cannot count illegals and then distribute congressional representation based on numbers that include people who aren’t citizens.” And, especially important in a crucial election year like 2026, ensuring that illegals do not vote guarantees that the votes of actual citizens are not canceled out, he concluded.