A county judge has dismissed 140 cases against immigrants accused of rioting at the U.S. southern border, finding there was no basis for arrest.
Judge Ruben Morales of El Paso County Courtroom 7 found on Monday that state troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety had no probable cause to detain 140 immigrants arrested for rioting earlier this month. according to In the El Paso Times. The charges stem from an April 12 incident in El Paso’s Lower Valley where a group of migrants broke through a concertina of barbed wire at the border and entered the United States.
“After reviewing the affidavit, I don’t think (probable cause) exists,” Morales said at the hearing, according to the El Paso Times. “I don’t think there is any justifiable reason why these people should continue to be detained on charges of participating in a riot.”
There were more than 300 immigrants in the group at the time of the attack, and state prosecutors said a push by about 140 of them prompted the Texas National Guard to withdraw, sparking a riot. report. Public defenders argued that arrest affidavits do not identify what each immigrant did or the agents or officers who witnessed their actions. (Related: Judge pleads for backup after mass arrest of immigrant mob at border)
US-Mexico border fence, taken April 3, 2024 in Campo, California (Photo: David SWANSON/AFP) (Photo: DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s like someone at the front of the line at a concert getting into a fight with a bouncer and arresting everyone in line,” El Paso County Chief Public Defender Kelly Childress said, according to WFXR. .
Childress reportedly argued during the hearing that the charges were an “attempt to arrest and harass.”
Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Vandenbosch of the El Paso District Attorney’s Office argued that the group of immigrants knew they were participating in a riot when they crossed the border illegally, the El Paso Times reported.
The judge’s decision does not necessarily mean these immigrants will not be charged with rioting in the future, and the El Paso District Attorney’s Office will be required to pursue those charges, according to the El Paso Times. WFXR reports that federal immigration authorities have issued detention requests to these immigrants for illegally entering the United States, which requires them to remain in county jails for up to two days before being transferred to federal custody. It means that.
The mass arrests of migrants in El Paso come as the crisis continues at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Congressional Budget Office reported that in fiscal year 2023, more than 3 million foreign nationals entered the United States illegally, entered the United States on parole, or overstayed their visas.
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