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8h ago

El Paso Judge Convicts Migrant for Trespassing in Newly Designated National Defense Area

The ruling solidifies a Justice Department initiative to criminalize unauthorized crossings through Army-controlled border zones.

A U.S. Army M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle, known as a Stryker, deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border under Title 10 in Sunland Park, New Mexico on March 28, 2025.

Overview

  • U.S. District Judge David Briones found Ecuadorian national Dario Javier Trejo-Burbano guilty of entering military property and sentenced him to time served plus one business day.
  • The 63-mile National Defense Area near El Paso was established in early May to allow U.S. soldiers to patrol the Rio Grande border, following a similar 60-mile zone created in New Mexico in April.
  • Federal prosecutors are using petty-misdemeanor charges to deter illegal entry by treating Army-controlled zones as restricted military property.
  • Defense attorneys have challenged the visibility and placement of one-foot-wide, two-foot-tall U.S. Army property signs, arguing migrants lacked clear notice of the restricted areas.
  • Dozens of migrants have pleaded guilty under this strategy, and the first jury trial in early June ended in an acquittal before this bench conviction.