U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth of Las Cruces dismissed misdemeanor trespassing charges against nearly 100 illegal aliens arrested for crossing into a newly designated National Defense Area in New Mexico. On Wednesday, the federal judge ruled in favor of the illegal aliens, citing probable cause issues as the reason for the dismissals.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, Illegal border crossers in New Mexico began facing new criminal charges in May under a section of U.S. law that protects military installations from unauthorized entry. President Trump recently designated portions of the border region as a National Defense Area.
The designated area stretches along 170 miles of the New Mexico-Mexico border that President Trump says is crucial to “maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States.” Trump’s order brought the strip of land under Department of Defense control, making incursions a federal offense under Title 50 of the United States Code, a section of federal law governing war and national defense.
The new territory designation made unauthorized entry into the area a crime in addition to the criminal statutes under Title 8 of the United States Code, which covers the illegal entry violation under immigration law.
The New Mexico corridor, now treated as an extension of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachuca in Arizona, is subject to enhanced military patrols and surveillance. U.S. troops are authorized to temporarily detain and transfer individuals to federal law enforcement for prosecution. Since the designation, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of New Mexico announced the filing of more than 100 criminal cases under the Title 50 statute since early May.
Magistrate Wormuth ruled in the dismissals that the federal government failed to prove sufficiently that the illegal aliens facing charges of trespassing onto the designated military property knew they were entering the New Mexico National Defense Area.
Wormuth questioned whether the government had placed correctly signage warning the defendants were about to enter the New Mexico National Defense area in his decision saying, “Relevant facts on the matter would include, the words on the signs, the size of the signs, the height, the density of the signage, evidence regarding how close defendant was to a sign at any time prior to the apprehension, and the lighting conditions at the relevant time and whether the signs were lighted.”
Despite the dismissal of charges related to unlawfully entering the national defense area, the defendants remain in federal custody on charges of illegally entering the United States.
Unlike United States District Judges, who serve a life term, United States Magistrate Judges serve a fixed eight-year term.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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