Navy Warship on Border Patrol

Author: Emma Grace
Publish Date: 10.15.2025

President Trump signed an executive order that has led to the deployment of the USS Spruance, a Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, along with the United States Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (“LEDET”) to combat the increase of maritime-related terrorism, illegal immigration, and drug smuggling.[1] With a second Arleigh-Burke-class destroyer, the USS Gravely, deployed to the Gulf of America, the Navy’s increased maritime presence contributes to the Department of Defense’s (“DOD”) efforts to restore territorial integrity along the United States border and reinforce the nation’s commitment to border security by enhancing maritime efforts and supporting interagency collaboration.[2]

The dual deployment of destroyers to the Gulf of America has surprised many, since such a concentration of naval assets for border security operations has not occurred in the past.[3] While sending two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the border simultaneously is rare, previous administrations have utilized these warships for related mission sets in the past to intercept illegal drugs.[4] The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is a multi-mission warship equipped with a range of missiles capable of conducting anti-aircraft warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-surface warfare. [5]

The Navy’s role in domestic missions like this is less clearly constrained then that of Army or Air Force because of the Posse Comitatus Act.[6] This Act prohibits the use of the United States Army or United States Air Force personnel or resources as a posse comitatus, a force to aid civilian law enforcement authorities in keeping the peace and arresting felons, or otherwise to execute domestic law, except when expressly authorized by the Constitution or an act of Congress.[7] However, this Act is does not apply to the United States Coast Guard, even when they are operating as part of the Navy. Though this Act does not explicitly mention the Navy, the Act similarly restricts them through DOD policies.[8] This creates an area of legal uncertainty for the Coast Guard’s participation in civilian law enforcement activities such as immigration enforcement.[9] Congress has made available designated surface and air platforms for patrolling drug trafficking areas with LEDET deployed.[10] LEDET personnel on board any United States Navy vessel have the authority to search, seize property, and arrest persons suspected of violating United States laws, so the USS Spruance is within the limits authorized under DOD’s limitations and the Posse Comitatus Act.[11]

The United State’s efforts to increase border patrol by deploying destroyers like the USS Spruance, along with the Navy’s maritime presence may demonstrate an increase in operational control of the border.[12]

[1] Alexandra Koch, Navy deploys destroyer USS Spruance to southern border to curb illegal immigration, N.Y. Post (Mar. 23, 2025, 1:23 AM), https://nypost.com/2025/03/23/us-news/navy-deploys-destroyer-uss-spruance-to-southern-border-to-curb-illegal-immigration/
[2] Id.
[3] Maya Carlin, Navy Sends Second Arleigh-Burke Destroyer to Rare Southern Deployment, The National Interest (Mar. 30, 2025), https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/navy-sends-second-arleigh-burke-destroyer-to-rare-southern-deployment.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] A.R. Thomas & James C. Duncan, Naval War College International Law Studies, in Annotated Supplement to the Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations, 73 Int’l L. Stud. (2025).
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Anthony J. Ghiotto, Defending Against the Military: The Posse Comitatus Act’s Exclusionary Rule, 11 Harv. Nat’l Sec. J. (2020), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3449522.
[10] Thomas & Duncan, supra note 6.
[11] Id.
[12] Koch, supra note 1.