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From Reuters: 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 migrants did not know they were entering the New Mexico military zone and therefore could not be charged, according to court documents.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Amanda Skinner said Wormuth dismissed the charges against all migrants who made initial court appearances on Thursday. The migrants still face charges for crossing the border illegally.
“Judge Wormuth found no probable cause,” Skinner said in an email.
The report explains that the “New Mexico National Defense Area”, established in April along 180 miles of the border, is patrolled by U.S. Army troops patrol.
Wormuth claimed the illegal aliens weren’t aware they had entered a restricted area, and agreed with defense attorneys that warning signs in the area were not adequate to notify the illegal aliens they were committing a crime.
ABC News wrote: According to the original criminal complaint, the military had posted signs in the zones stating in both English and Spanish that it was a restricted area and that unauthorized entry is prohibited. However, the judge said there was no evidence, given the often difficult and mountainous terrain, that the defendants had actually seen the signs.
There is also controversy about what language the signs were written in. Noting that illegal aliens come from multiple areas of the world, the Washington Post reported: Migrants charged have told law enforcement they are from mostly Spanish-speaking countries, but some were from Turkey, where the main language is Turkish, and Pakistan, where the official language is Urdu.
ABOUT THIS JUDGE: Gregory B. Wormuth is a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. He was appointed on May 18, 2009.
More from the Albuquerque Journal: Wormuth, a former federal prosecutor, has served as a U.S. Magistrate judge in New Mexico since 2009 and just recently was appointed to another eight-year term.
US judge dismisses charges against migrants caught in military zone https://t.co/HrnOohRLb4
A blatant disregard for the law. Judges like this must be removed from the bench. This is ridiculous. If they want to run our foreign policy, they should run for president.
— John Medina (@Medina63Jw) May 16, 2025
Federal judge dismisses more than 100 border trespassing charges related to military zone https://t.co/LGN8SSTyxO pic.twitter.com/0BKmwoatUe
— Albuquerque Journal (@ABQJournal) May 16, 2025
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