Rioting charges against 211 illegal migrants caught on video by The Post pushing past Texas troops and attempting to break into the US on March 21 have all been dismissed — based on a technicality
El Paso County Judge Ruben Morales dismissed the cases at a hearing Wednesday, May 8, saying his “hands [are] tied” after the state did not provide a required transfer order, a simple document, to move the matter from District to County Court.
“If I don’t have jurisdiction, there’s nothing I can do on these cases [except dismiss them],” he said during the hearing.
The move is a huge blow for District Attorney Bill Hicks, who had been pursing the cases. His office said he was unavailable when contacted by The Post Thursday.
El Paso County Assistant District Attorney prosecutor Kyle Lasley had argued Judge Morale’s court oversaw misdemeanor cases and that he did have jurisdiction.
However, Public Defender Kelli Childress claimed “processes were ignored” when transferring the cases, and Judge Morales sided with her, saying his “hands are tied” without the order transfer.
Local reports say the defendants — who collectively ripped down razor wire fences and assaulted National Guard troops, with one having his knee stomped in the melee — were ‘discharged’ following the ruling.
It was not immediately clear if they were then returned into federal custody, where they would be processed for deportation for their illegal entry into the country, or if they were released into onto the streets of El Paso.
The El Paso County Court, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and El Paso County Sheriff did not immediately say where the 211 migrants were Thursday when contacted by The Post.
The migrants were all arrested by Texas authorities on riot-related charges after the rush at an area known as Gate 36, as seen in the shocking footage captured by The Post.
The riot charges carried a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and up to a $2,000 fine.
The migrants were mostly adult males who severely outnumbered the guardsmen, who had been trying to place them into groups so they could be taken into CBP custody.
Nine migrants were later singled out as the ‘ringleaders’ of the stampede and eight of them are currently in custody facing additional felony charges, which are being heard separately to the riot charges.
The final instigator, Venezuelan migrant Gabriel Enrique Angarita Carrasquero, 22, was released into the US by Border Patrol following the incident and remains on the run.
He is alleged to have assaulted a Texas soldier, according to an internal federal memo on his case previously reviewed by The Post.
Thirty nine of the people involved in the riot were released at a bond hearing in March because a judge deceided the El Paso District Attorney’s Office had failed to schedule detention hearings for each defendant individually.
“If the DA is indicating they are not ready to proceed, we are going to release these individuals on their own recognizances,” Presiding Magistrate Judge Humberto Acosta ruled at the time.
However, rather than being allowed free, the 39 individuals were transferred to federal custody where they were expected to be processed for deportation.
Since the incursion, Texas has deployed hundreds of additional troops to the area and put up additional fencing to deter illegal crossings. Mexico has also enhanced patrols on their side of the Rio Grande in Juarez.
San Diego, California, has now become the busiest area for illegal crossings into the US, with over 37,000 arrested for attempting to cross the border in April alone. However, migrants are still finding ways to evade authorities and cross into the US illegally.
Over 600,000 people illegally made their way into the United States without being apprehended by border agents during the 2023 fiscal year, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted last October.
