SANTA TERESA, N.M. — Two U.S. Marines deployed as part of Joint Task Force-Southern Border (JTF-SB) died Tuesday morning in a vehicle accident near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, according to a press release from the Department of Defense. A third Marine remains hospitalized in serious condition.
The names of the fallen service members will be released once their families are notified.
The Marines were part of the broader military deployment authorized by President Trump in January, following a national emergency declaration at the southern border. That order transferred 110,000 acres of public land to military control to bolster security efforts — a move spearheaded by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and supported by Republican governors in several border states.
While official confirmation is pending, the Marines are believed to be from the 1st Marine Division, known as “The Old Breed,” headquartered at Camp Pendleton. The unit has a long and decorated combat history, including deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and earlier conflicts in the Pacific, Korea and Vietnam. (RELATED: US Marines Need Better Support To Fight China)
The incident underscore the risks involved in what has become a more active and militarized role for the armed forces at the southern border.
Newsweek has additional details on the steps the new administration has taken to secure the porous southern border:
Trump last month also utilized the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law that grants the commander in chief authority to detain or deport non-citizens. The implementation was blocked in federal court and has sparked a contentious legal back-and-forth in the federal courts.
The accident on Tuesday marks the first reported deaths involving U.S. military activity along the southern border, according to ABC News.
Multiple Army units nationwide have been deployed to assist the task force, a U.S. Northern Command press release says. Nearly 10,000 service members were deployed or cleared to deploy, “who will report to or support this new Joint Task Force,” the March release says.
Several units from the National Guard and Reserve were also stationed to facilitate the Department of Homeland Security’s bid for assistance with the task force, according to the release.
What We Know:
Incident: Vehicle accident early Monday near Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
Casualties: Two Marines killed, one seriously injured.
Mission Context: Deployment follows Trump’s January 2025 orders on border security.
Investigation: Ongoing; no further details on cause of the accident yet.
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