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EL PASO, US / ISTANBUL 

The US-Mexico border has entered a new era of counterterrorism-focused operations as military support intensifies under the administration of US President Donald Trump, leading to a dramatic decrease in illegal crossings and significant shifts in cartel activities.

According to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, the number of illegal migrants apprehended at the Mexican border dropped from 249,741 in December 2023 to just 7,181 this March.

The 95% decrease in border violations is primarily attributed to the strict measures implemented by the Trump administration after winning the elections with anti-immigration rhetoric and being sworn in in January.

Anadolu’s team traveled to El Paso, Texas, a city along the Mexican border, to observe the latest situation firsthand. The team accompanied border patrols, which begin their shifts at the break of dawn, and visited the headquarters of new military units deployed in areas designated as National Defense Areas (NDAs). 

Anadolu sees intense moments at Mexican border

Serving along the more than 3,000-km US-Mexican border, these patrols are witnessing the lowest level of illegal migrant crossings in a quarter-century.

Anadolu team, accompanied by the US border patrol, traveled to one of the most active crossing points at the foothills of Mount Cristo Rey in El Paso, Texas, at dawn.

The border wall, built from metal columns and standing between 5.5 and 9 meters tall in different sections, stretches uninterrupted—except for a 2.3-kilometer gap along the slopes of Mount Cristo Rey.

The steep topography of this area did not allow for the wall's construction, but it has not been able to prevent the passage of hundreds of thousands of migrants over the past two years.

The US Customs and Border Protection monitors the border region with AI-operated camera systems, aerial surveillance vehicles, and border patrols. Just across the border lies the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez. Neighborhoods stretching right up to the edge of the wall are entirely under the control of Mexican cartels.

Although crossings are at their lowest since 2000, the radio chatter of the border patrol is constant. Upon receiving information that five people had approached within 300 meters of the border on the eastern side of the hill, patrols moved to the area. At a point where cameras had captured images, the group's path was cut off 100 meters before the border. Two people in the group waved defiantly at the patrol.

Capt. Claudio Herrera of the US Border Patrol pointed to a dirt road separating Mexico and the US, explaining why crossings concentrate in this area.

“Cartels, criminal organizations use these individuals as spotters to see where our agents are deployed at. They guide the group via phone or just walking themselves through this area so they can make their legal entry,” he said, adding that sometimes they draw attention to one point with a few people and try to infiltrate through at another.

Border patrol officers said the Mexican side of the border is controlled by cartels and that the makeshift shacks there serve as lookout points for cartel observers, known as "halkones," which means "hawks" in Spanish.

On the US side of the border, patrols are maintained with vehicles. Although US officials claim to work in coordination with their Mexican counterparts, it is widely understood that real control on the Mexican side is held by the cartels.

Border crossings at Mexican border decreased, drug prices increased

The pressure exerted by the Trump administration on border crossings has yielded results, reducing illegal entries. However, many officials in the region said cartels have adapted to changing conditions. 

“Human trafficking makes thousands of dollars. To smuggle a person, a person that wants to be smuggled into the country, pays thousands of dollars," said Eli Gonzalez, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)'s El Paso Division. 

"So the incentive is there for the cartel to do it. However, because of this measure that the government has taken, our posture, our defensive tactic, if you will, has become stronger, and now the cartels are adjusting (the drug prices). So what you're seeing is an adjustment from the cartels.”

Gonzalez's remarks confirm that cartels are increasing the rates of their activities, primarily drug trafficking, to compensate for the loss of income in human trafficking.  

Military now fighting terrorism, not illegal migration

The US military has historically supported border security operations at the Mexican border. But this time the situation is different.

Trump declared a "state of emergency" in the region immediately after taking office. This granted the US administration the authority to leverage more Pentagon resources, while the NDA designation at the border gave soldiers new powers.

Earlier, soldiers passively supported border patrols, but now they can detain, search, and patrol illegal immigrants within the borders of the NDA before handing them over to the police. This is because the defense area is legally considered a military area.

After the 110,000-acre area along the Mexican border in New Mexico was declared a National Defense Area, and US Army Stryker, from 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, equipped with advanced military technologies, was deployed there to support border patrols.

Thermal camera-equipped armored vehicles, military drones flying over the region, and even the army's satellite surveillance capabilities are fully utilized.

Brig. Gen. Jeremy Winters, Joint Task Force - Southern Border's (JTF-SB) deputy commanding general for maneuver, said “we're trying to aid the border patrol to see the bigger picture.”

Winters added that intelligence on where drug cartels source their precursor materials and how their organizational structure spreads southward across the border deepens the fight against them.

US media, citing some military sources, had reported that the Pentagon was considering the option of using armed drones against cartels.

When Anadolu team asked Winters if a military operation in coordination with the Mexican army against cartel members was being considered following their designation as a foreign terrorist organization, he paused briefly, and his assistant avoided answering, citing time constraints.

In a written statement later provided to Anadolu, the public affairs unit of the JTF-SB said they do not wish to make comments that could lead to speculation.

The statement said that their ongoing operations with the US Border Patrol, along with their strong and enduring partnership with the Mexican military, have direct impacts on the illegal organizations operating south of the US border and their illicit activities.