Texas Democrat Judge Dismisses 211 Border Rioting Charges Filed Against Migrants
by RANDY CLARK 10 May 2024
In a setback to the prosecution of migrants involved in a massive border breach in March, El Paso County Court at Law #7 Judge Ruben Morales dismissed 211 individual cases involving migrants charged with rioting at a border crossing. According to Morales, a procedural error transferring the cases from the local district court to his county court meant he lacked jurisdiction and was obligated to dismiss the charges.
According to a report by the El Paso Times, Judge Morales, a Democrat, issued his ruling during Wednesday’s court sessions, saying, “If I don’t have jurisdiction, there’s nothing I can do on these cases except dismiss them.” The cases stemmed from an incident on March 21, near an area known as “Gate 36” in El Paso, where hundreds of migrants stormed past Texas Army National Guard soldiers. Several soldiers sustained injuries as a large group of migrants breached concertina wire and “no-climb” fencing, hoping to surrender to the Border Patrol.
Jennie Taer
@JennieSTaer
This is the moment when TX National Guard became overrun by migrants rioting to get across the border here in El Paso today
We were there and saw it all happen. Absolute chaos here.
Watch on X
2:53 PM · Mar 21, 2024
The migrants will be released to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and will be processed for asylum or removal. At a Thursday press conference, Republican District Attorney Bill Hicks told media representatives he felt strongly that appropriate procedures were followed and that his office intends to appeal Judge Morales’s ruling. El Paso County Assistant District Attorney Kyle Lasley, who represented the state in the riot prosecution case against the migrants, also disagrees with Morales’ dismissal of the cases.
At the press conference, Hicks told reporters if the court of appeals reverses Morales’s decision, arrest warrants will be issued for those migrants who have been released into the United States. Any of the accused migrants who have been removed from the country will face charges upon re-entry.
https://www.breitbart.com/border/202...inst-migrants/
