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21-Year-Old Migrant Acquitted in First U.S. Trial Over Border Military Zone

The ruling underscores legal hurdles for the administration’s bid to prosecute migrants under military zone designations.

FILE - Army soldiers look at the border wall next to a surveillance vehicle in Sunland Park, N.M., Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)
Near Marker 4 east of the Texas-New Mexico state line, a sign, illegible from the Mexican bank of the Rio Grande, warns that the U.S. Department of Defense has taken over the area, May 12, 2025.

Overview

  • Adely Vanessa De La Cruz-Alvarez was found not guilty of trespassing on Army property after crossing the Rio Grande near Tornillo, Texas, but will be removed for illegal entry.
  • Federal Magistrate Judge Laura Enriquez and the jury concluded there was no proof she saw or understood signage marking the national defense area.
  • In recent weeks, judges in Texas and New Mexico have dismissed similar charges, citing inadequate warning signs and absence of evidence that migrants knowingly entered restricted zones.
  • The Trump administration designated 240 miles of New Mexico and Texas border as national defense areas in April to bolster military-assisted immigration enforcement.
  • U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons affirmed that prosecutions of national defense area violations will continue as the administration pushes to increase deportations.