A U.S. judge in New Mexico on Thursday dismissed trespassing charges against dozens of migrants caught in a new military zone on the U.S.-Mexico border, marking a setback for Trump administration efforts to raise penalties for illegal crossings.
Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth began filing the dismissals late on Wednesday, ruling that migrants did not know they were entering the military zone in New Mexico and, therefore, could not be charged, according to court documents and a defense attorney.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Amanda Skinner said Wormuth dismissed trespassing charges against all 98 migrants who made initial court appearances on Thursday.
"Judge Wormuth found no probable cause," Skinner said in an email.
The New York Times reported that about 400 immigrants have been charged with trespassing on the military border zone that was recently created by the Trump administration to try to prevent border crossings.
President Donald Trump proclaimed in a White House memorandum on April 11, "The complexity of the current situation requires that our military take a more direct role in securing our southern border than in the recent past."
Defense attorneys, according to the Times, said those charged with the federal trespassing complaints had no idea they were intruding on a military zone.
Attorney Carlos Ibarra told the Times, "It's just a bunch of desert. 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 defendants who crossed the border from Mexico illegally still face the basic misdemeanor charge of illegal entry. Federal prosecutors have not indicated if they will appeal the magistrate's ruling on the trespassing charges.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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