Particle.news
Download on the App Store
4 ARTICLES
·
4d ago

Peruvian Migrant Acquitted in First U.S. Trial Over Border Military Zone

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons says prosecutions will continue after jurors found migrants lacked knowledge of restricted military land

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, 21, was acquitted of trespassing on U.S. Army property but convicted of illegal entry and sentenced to time served plus one business day
  • Her defense argued that warning signs marking the national defense area were too small and unclear, a point cited by the judge in ruling she did not knowingly enter military land
  • Since April, the administration has designated about 240 miles of the Texas-New Mexico border as National Defense Areas overseen by commands at Fort Huachuca and Fort Bliss
  • Federal judges in New Mexico dismissed similar charges in May for lack of evidence that migrants were aware they had entered restricted military zones
  • The deployment of military personnel for civilian border enforcement has sparked questions about Posse Comitatus limits as the Justice Department forges ahead with new misdemeanor prosecutions