The Roosevelt Reservation is the of land owned by the United States'

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

along the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

side of the U.S.–Mexico Border in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. Federal and tribal lands make up , or about one-third, of the nearly of border. Private and state-owned lands constitute the remaining 67 percent of the border, most of which is located in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

History

In 1907,

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

in a

Presidential Proclamation In the United States, a presidential proclamation is a statement issued by the president of the United States on an issue of public policy. It is a type of presidential directive. Details A presidential proclamation is an instrument that: *s ...

(35 Stat. 2136) established the reservation in order to keep all public lands along the border in California, Arizona, and New Mexico "free from obstruction as a protection against the smuggling of goods between the United States and Mexico". Texas was excluded because Texas retained all public lands upon the

Texas annexation The Republic of Texas was annexation, annexed into the United States and Admission to the Union, admitted to the Union as the List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union, 28th state on December 29, 1845. The Republic of Texas Texas ...

and admittance as a state, much of which has been sold over the years to private parties. In 2019, the

Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

administration announced a three-year transfer of land within the reservation from the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...

to the Department of Defense, for the construction of of border wall. Construction of the

Mexico–United States border wall The Mexico–United States border wall is a series of disjoined physical barriers built along portions of the Mexico–United States border. The barriers were constructed in a piecemeal manner over the course of several President of the United ...

along the border in the states of California, Arizona, and New Mexico was expedited since the reservation reduced the need to acquire additional private property. In January 2025 the

United States Northern Command The United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense. The command is tasked with providing military support for Civil authority, non-military authorities in t ...

activated military police and combat engineer units from the Army and Marine Corps to support

United States Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border guard, border ...

on the border. In March 2025, the newly formed Joint Task Force-Southern Border, from the headquarters of the

10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division (military), division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in ...

, took over control of the operation along border, to oversee joint forces and serve as the NORTHCOM land component command for the mission, which involves about 10,000 service members. The headquarters for Joint Task Force-Southern Border is

Fort Huachuca Fort Huachuca is a United States Army military base, installation, in Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County in southeast Arizona, approximately north of the Mexico–United States border, border with Mexico and at the northern end of the Huac ...

. In April 2025, President Trump released a memorandum directing the U.S. military to take control of the rest of public land on the Roosevelt Reservation from the Interior Department to enhance security and facilitate building border barriers, citing various threats to the nation. The Roosevelt Reservation along with other land was designated a National Defense Area.

References

{{coord, 31, 47, 01, N, 107, 31, 27, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title Mexico–United States border Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt Smuggling Second Trump administration controversies United States Department of the Interior United States Department of Defense

History

See also

References