First Convictions for Migrants Who Crossed into New Military Border Zones
U.S. attorneys in New Mexico and Texas are announcing some of the first convictions against migrants who crossed into newly created military zones along the southern border — a tactic by the Trump administration to deter crossings and increase legal penalties. Two Mexican citizens pleaded guilty to a violation of defense property security regulations and […]
Judge Throws Out Cases of Migrants Charged with Crossing Military Zone at Border
A federal judge this week dismissed about 100 cases of individuals charged with trespassing on a newly created New Mexico military zone along the U.S. southern border, delivering the latest legal blow to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. New military zones in that state and Texas are part of the administration’s effort to reduce border […]
Military Takes Over Another Stretch of Public Border Land in Effort to Catch and Charge Migrants
Another stretch of federal land along the border has been transferred to the U.S. military, this time in Texas, expanding the territory in which troops can be used to apprehend migrants and the government can pursue trespassing charges. U.S. Northern Command announced on Thursday that the new area will be an extension of Fort Bliss […]
Migrants Face a Novel Criminal Charge in New Military Border Zone
SANTA FE, N.M. — Immigrants recently detained in southernmost New Mexico now face a novel criminal charge of breaching a national defense area, after the U.S. Army assumed oversight of a 170-mile (274-kilometer) strip along the southern U.S. border in cooperation with immigration authorities. Federal prosecutors on Monday applied the additional charge for incursions into […]
Military Zone Along Border Means New — Potentially Harsher — Penalties for Newly Detained Migrants
Migrants are now being apprehended and charged with trespassing on a new narrow stretch of Department of Defense-controlled land in New Mexico, defense officials and attorneys told Military.com, marking new legal battles for the U.S. government. As of Monday, at least 28 migrants were charged with violating security regulations as well as entering the U.S. […]
The Standoff at Gate 36: Texas Sends in the Troops to Block Migrants from Seeking Asylum
There was a time when migrants arriving here would cross the Rio Grande, make their way to a gate in the border fence and turn themselves into federal agents to claim asylum. That was before Texas Gov. Greg Abbott turned Gate 36 into a militarized zone, fortified by rifle-toting soldiers, a fleet of Humvees and […]