Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to provide dozens of lawyers to the Justice Department for temporary assignments in Memphis and near the U.S.-Mexico border that could run through next fall. This directive, revealed in a memo, aims to assist federal immigration enforcement operations in these areas.

Hegseth indicated the need for 48 attorneys and 4 paralegals from the military. This comes after a previous approval where up to 600 military lawyers were authorized to serve as temporary immigration judges. These steps reflect an increasing trend of utilizing military personnel to reinforce immigration enforcement.

The memo outlines requests for support in various locations, including 20 lawyers for Memphis and additional attorneys for cities such as El Paso, Del Rio, and Midland in Texas, as well as Las Cruces in New Mexico.

While the specific tasks of these lawyers remain unclear, the Pentagon emphasized its role in supporting law enforcement and restoring order, which raises concerns about the potential effect on the military's own legal system as it reallocates legal resources.

The Justice Department has acknowledged the request but did not elaborate on the anticipated tasks for the military lawyers involved.