Migrant acquitted in first trial over US border military zones
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — U.S. Army soldiers install concertina wire along the United States-Mexico border in Hidalgo, Texas, November 8, 2018. REUTERS/Adrees Latif
By Andrew Hay
A federal jury in Texas on Thursday acquitted the first migrant tried for entering one of the new military zones on the U.S.-Mexico border, marking a legal challenge to the Trump administration plan to raise penalties for illegal crossings.
The trial of the 21-year-old Peruvian woman was a test of whether the federal government could levy extra charges against migrants who cross the border unlawfully into areas in Texas and New Mexico designated as restricted military areas.
Adely Vanessa De La Cruz-Alvarez faced two charges for entering a Texas military zone and a charge for illegal entry into the United States after her May 12 arrest near Tornillo, about 30 miles east of El Paso, according to court documents.
An El Paso jury on Thursday found the migrant guilty of illegal entry to the United States but not guilty of unlawfully entering military property.
The judge in the case on Wednesday acquitted De La Cruz-Alvarez of a trespassing charge, ruling federal prosecutors produced no evidence the migrant saw any signs warning her that she was entering a Department of Defense restricted area.
"There was zero testimony that Ms. De La Cruz (1) ever saw any such signage, (2) knew that the area was designated as any kind of a military zone, (3) had any intention, willfully or otherwise, to enter upon a military zone," Federal Magistrate Judge Laura Enriquez wrote in her ruling.
Federal prosecutors argued they did not need to prove De La Cruz knew she was trespassing on military land to charge her for the act, only that she knew she was illegally entering the United States.
Alvarez’s lawyer Veronica Teresa Lerma did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The El Paso trial comes after federal magistrate judges in New Mexico and Texas dismissed trespassing charges against dozens of migrants on grounds they did not know they were on military land due to inadequate signage.
The National Defense Areas were set up along 240 miles of the border in New Mexico and Texas starting in April. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said migrants caught in them could face combined penalties of up to ten years' imprisonment.
(Reporting By Andrew Hay; editing by Diane Craft // REUTERS)
