The Pentagon is establishing a fourth military defense zone along the U.S.-Mexico border, where American soldiers can apprehend noncitizens on charges of trespassing, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Wednesday.

Annexed militarized zones on public land will soon cover nearly one-third of the U.S. border with Mexico, empowering soldiers to arrest people who cross the border illegally and facilitating new crimi

Military personnel will patrol and stop trespassers along the stretch of land, which spans 250 miles of the Rio Grande River in Texas.