A federal judge dismissed trespassing charges against nearly 100 migrants who were arrested under a Trump administration policy.
Federal magistrate judge Gregory B. Wormuth found the federal government had failed to show the migrants knew they were entering a newly declared “national defense” zone along New Mexico’s southern border and dismissed charges against 98 of them as he works through a docket of around 400 cases, reported the New York Times.
“The United States provides no facts from which one could reasonably conclude that the Defendant knew he was entering” the New Mexico National Defense Area, the newly declared military installation, Judge Wormuth ruled.
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President Donald Trump declared a 180-mile ribbon of land across the entirety of the state's border with Mexico to be a U.S. Army base, and thus a restricted area, but defense attorneys say some of the migrants were arrested before warning signs were put up, while others crossed the border between signs or were unable to read the warnings.
“It’s just a bunch of desert,” said defense lawyer Carlos Ibarra. “They’re just coming over the same as usual, and all of a sudden, it’s military charges. Nobody knows what’s going on.”
The migrants, who are all being held without bond, still face misdemeanor charges of entering the United States illegally and will likely to be deported, and federal prosecutors could appeal Wormuth's ruling or file the charges again with additional facts to show the migrants had willfully trespassed.
“If the government has the evidence to support the charges, they’re welcome to refile,” said Amanda Skinner, an assistant federal defender who challenged the charges. “We’ve been convinced there was no probable cause.”