A judge in El Paso, Texas, on Sunday ordered the release of migrants accused of being involved in a "border riot" that overwhelmed National Guard troops along the Rio Grande earlier this month, according to a local media report.
Videos shared on social media showed a "riot" of asylum seekers attempting to illegally enter the United States from Mexico at the El Paso border on March 21. A reporter who documented the scene described the Texas National Guard as being "overrun by migrants" who pushed their way past a border fence and the soldiers before the situation was controlled.
Crossings at the southwest land border in Texas totaled 68,260 in January, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data—a drop from the 149,806 migrants who entered in December, but still among the highest rates in the country. In response to the surge, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other conservative officials have attempted to enact their own immigration laws that would allow for the arrest, detainment and removal of suspected illegal immigrants. However, those efforts continue to be litigated.
On Sunday, Magistrate Judge Humberto Acosta handed down his ruling during an online teleconference bond hearing where he chided the El Paso District Attorney's Office for not being ready to proceed with detention hearings for some of the defendants who were arrested in the border incident, the El Paso Times reported, noting that another hearing for additional defendants is slated for Monday.
"It is the ruling of the court is that all the rioting participation cases will be released on their own recognizance," Acosta said, according to the local newspaper.
In response to Newsweek's request for an interview or comment regarding Sunday's court proceedings, Michael Cuccaro, executive director of El Paso County Council of Judges, said in an emailed statement on Monday that every individual brought to a jail magistrate upon arrest "receives an individualized bond" determined by the magistrate to ensure public safety and compliance with Texas law.
"Over the long weekend, the Texas Department of Public Safety removed over a hundred persons from [Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)] custody and charged these individuals with suspicion of a variety of state law violations in connection with a violent border crossing on March 21," Cuccaro said. "In accordance with statutory procedure, these persons were brought to the Jail Magistrate Court of El Paso County for the purpose of determining probable cause for arrest, informing persons of the accusations and their rights, to determine indigency, and other matters."
He continued: "All individuals allegedly involved in the March 21 border breach had federal detainers filed by [ICE] to have them returned to its custody once released from state custody. Each individual released from state custody and who is subject to a detainer from ICE are held to give ICE time to take custody for deportation proceedings."
The arrests were made by the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS) in connection with a March 21 incident where a group of migrants — mostly men from Venezuela —ripped down razor wire along the Rio Grande and rushed the border fence.
Newsweek reached out via email on Sunday to the TDPS and the El Paso District Attorney's Office for comment.
While it is unclear at the time of publication exactly how many migrants were arrested in connection to the border riot, Acosta said that "hundreds of arrestees" were entitled to individual detention hearings within 48 hours. It was also unclear if Acosta's ruling applied only to those charged with "riot participation" and not those accused of assault or criminal mischief related to the border stampede.
A request by Assistant District Attorney Ashley M. Martinez to hold the hearings at a later date was denied by the judge, according to the El Paso Times.
"So, if the DA's office is telling me that they are not ready to go, what we're going to do is we're going to release all these individuals on their own recognizance," Acosta said.
In response to the border riot, Abbott wrote in a March 30 post on X, formerly Twitter: "More than 700 National Guard troops surged to El Paso after migrants breached razor wire barrier. That includes 200 Soldiers of the Texas Tactical Border Force deployed to El Paso this past week. Mission: Hold the line & deny illegal entry."
Update 04/01/24, 9:10 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Cuccaro.
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Maura Zurick is the Newsweek Weekend Night Editor based in Cleveland, Ohio. Her focus is reporting on U.S. national news ... Read more
