US judge dismisses charges against nearly 100 migrants in border zone trespassing case: Report

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - A US federal judge dismissed trespassing charges against 98 migrants who crossed into a restricted military zone along the New Mexico border, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Defense attorneys highlighted that some migrants were arrested before signs were put up, crossed between signs, arrived exhausted in the dark or were unable to read the warnings.

Federal Magistrate Judge Gregory B. Wormuth said prosecutors failed to prove the migrants knowingly entered the area. He said many migrants were unaware they had entered a restricted military zone.

The zone, stretching roughly 180 miles (about 290 kilometers), was declared a “national defense area” by President Donald Trump’s administration. It is part of a broader policy to tighten border control and increase criminal penalties for unauthorized crossings.

Around 400 migrants had previously been charged with willfully violating security regulations, offenses that carry a sentence of up to a year in prison.

The arrests, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last Friday, had swamped local jails and every day brought dozens of shackled migrants into a federal courtroom to face the novel charges, the report added.