The Justice Department has begun the first criminal prosecutions of migrants who breach a newly expanded military zone at the southern border that is patrolled by U.S. troops, threatening people with additional penalties for crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.

At least 28 migrants were charged Monday with crossing into the 170-mile long “National Defense Area,” a 60-foot strip of land that stretches across the bottom of New Mexico and has effectively been turned into part of a U.S. military installation. Prosecutors added the new charge of violating security regulations in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces to the more common misdemeanor of entering the United States illegally. //

That's a brilliant use of government land. Because the U.S. government owns some of the border areas in New Mexico, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was able to declare it a "National Defense Area" and turn it into a restricted military installation, complete with patrols conducted by American troops. That immediately upped the ante, making it criminal to cross into the area, allowing federal authorities to skip a variety of legal hoops and head straight to criminal prosecutions that should be open-and-shut cases.