They took part in border riots and were then welcomed into the United States.
Dozens of migrants accused of a violent border attack in El Paso, Texas, on March 21 have been released into the United States, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed to The Washington Post.
It’s the latest shocking blow to accountability after 211 migrants were captured on video by The Washington Post charging toward the U.S. border and attacking Texas National Guard troops who were trying to push them back into Mexico.
At least one migrant was seen stomping on a soldier’s knee during the scuffle.
In May, an El Paso judge dismissed criminal charges against all those who crossed the border on a technicality.
The migrants allegedly involved in the riots have since been released from state custody and handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 43 of whom have been released, the spokesman said.
ICE decides who to release on a “case-by-case basis,” the spokesperson said.
“Erotic [Enforcement and Removal Operations] Officers will make decisions about relevant enforcement actions in a responsible manner based on their professional law enforcement experience and in a manner that best protects the communities we serve, applying prosecutorial discretion where applicable.”
But Homeland Security sources said the reality is more arbitrary: ICE releases immigrants into the US because it can’t deport them fast enough, and the agency needs to make room in detention facilities for the worst criminals, the sources said.
“Even when child sexual abusers are arrested, they are sometimes released due to space issues, or they are not even detained because the charges are not serious enough,” the source said.
ICE has released dozens of immigrants accused of participating in the riots but is detaining 32 others while they await court hearings and 105 others while they await deportation from the United States.
A further 43 suspected rioters have been deported, the spokesman said.
Texas authorities considered nine migrants to be ringleaders of the riot and planned to charge them with felony rioting, but two of them were released by the Border Patrol shortly thereafter.
Authorities were able to arrest one of the suspects, but the other, Venezuelan national Gabriel Enrique Angarita Carrasquero, 22, remains at large after allegedly “using a rope to pull down the gate, triggering a stampede of migrants.”
Texas has equipped its troopers and state troopers with non-lethal pepper ball guns to prevent future violence at the border.
A National Guard source previously told The Washington Post that soldiers now have “thousands” of pepper balls and have been instructed not to hold back when trying to stop trespassers.
The source said the new tool has “made a big difference here on the border,” adding that “soldiers are much safer now.”
