Tents for U.S. Marines set up outside of the Campo Border Patrol Station in eastern San Diego County on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Photo by Ariana Drehsler for CalMatters)
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East County News Services
June 29, 2025 (Campto) -- Dozens of Marines are now assigned to a Border Patrol station in eastern San Diego County, a new development that points to the Trump administration’s military buildup on the southern border.
Some Marines there told CalMatters on Wednesday that they are out in Campo patrolling the border twice a day.
That’s a change from how Marines have operated in Southern California since President Trump took office. Until now, Marines have been limited to a supporting role, adhering to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which keeps the armed forces away from civilian law enforcement.
But Trump has long hinted at using the armed forces in unprecedented ways at the border to deal with what he describes as “an invasion.”
And recently, the Trump administration shifted immigration enforcement northward toward the interior of California. Border Patrol agents have been seen chasing farmworkers through strawberry fields in Oxnard and swarming workers in unmarked cars at bus stops in inner-city Los Angeles.
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