U.S. troops deployed at designated border defense zones should have the authority to make arrests, according to an advisory opinion authored by the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel and published on Aug. 14.
Though a U.S. law known as the Posse Comitatus Act generally prohibits federal U.S. troops from engaging in domestic law enforcement activities, President Donald Trump has increasingly called on the military to help secure the border and disrupt illegal crossing attempts.
The new opinion from the Justice Department concludes that U.S. troops would not violate the Posse Comitatus Act by arresting individuals suspected of committing offenses in a designated National Defense Area….