A migrant from Peru has been acquitted in Texas of charges related to trespassing on a newly created military zone along the U.S. southern border now deemed an extension of Fort Bliss, delivering another legal blow to the Trump administration.
A federal judge for the Western District of Texas acquitted Adely Vanessa De La Cruz-Alvarez last week of a misdemeanor charge of violating security regulations and orders, according to court documents reviewed by Military.com. The case appears to be the first trial related to the new military zones.
A jury also found the Peruvian migrant not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully entering military property, but she was found guilty of illegally entering the country, Reuters reported. The woman had no prior criminal or immigration history, the criminal complaint stated.
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The action marks one of the starkest legal rebukes to date of President Donald Trump’s effort to militarize the land along the U.S. border with Mexico in an apparent attempt to levy more criminal charges against migrants seeking to enter the country illegally.
De La Cruz-Alvarez, a woman who was arrested May 12 near Tornillo, Texas, faced misdemeanor charges of improper entry into the U.S., as well as a charge for violating defense security protocol and illegally entering military property for allegedly passing through the more than 60 miles of newly federalized land between El Paso and Fort Hancock, Texas, which now acts as an extension of Fort Bliss.
“There was zero testimony that Ms. De La Cruz (1) ever saw any such signage, (2) knew that the area was designated as any kind of a military zone, (3) had any intention, willfully or otherwise, to enter upon a military zone,” Federal Judge Laura Enriquez wrote in her ruling, Reuters reported.
El Paso Matters, a nonprofit newsroom in Texas, reported that the woman would be returned to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and faces an expedited removal from the U.S.
“We told her what a strong and brave woman she was to take on the U.S. government and the Trump administration,” Veronica Teresa Lerma, De La Cruz-Alvarez’s attorney, said following the trial, El Paso Matters reported.
De La Cruz-Alvarez’s attorney did not respond to multiple requests for comment Monday.
The acquittal and jury ruling in De La Cruz’s case follow decisions by federal judges in Texas as well as New Mexico to drop similar charges against migrants, with upward of 100 having been thrown out last month, Military.com previously reported.
Despite some of those legal setbacks, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas is still pursuing charges against migrants, saying “federal prosecutors in the district filed 410 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from May 30 through June 5,” a news release from the office said.
“While we respect the jury’s verdict, we will continue to aggressively prosecute National Defense Area violations and defend the interests of the United States here in the Western District of Texas,” U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons for the Western District of Texas said in a statement, The Texas Tribune reported.
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