Riot charges dismissed by judge against 200 migrants who stormed the El Paso border and attacked Texas troops

US News

From Megan Palin

Riot charges against 211 illegal migrants captured on video by The Post pushing past Texas troops and attempting to enter the U.S. on March 21 have all been dismissed — as a technicality

El Paso County Judge Ruben Morales dismissed the cases at a hearing on Wednesday, May 8, saying his “hands.” [are] bound” after the state failed to provide a required transfer order, a simple document, to move the matter from district court to circuit court.

“If I'm not responsible, I can't do anything in these cases [except dismiss them]” he said during the hearing.

The move is a blow to District Attorney Bill Hicks, who prosecuted the cases. His office said he could not be reached when contacted by The Post on Thursday.

El Paso County Assistant District Attorney Kyle Lasley had argued that Morales' court oversees misdemeanor cases and that he does have jurisdiction.

However, public defender Kelli Childress claimed that “processes were ignored” in the transfer of the cases, and Morales sided with her, saying his “hands were tied” without the transfer order.

According to local reports, the defendants, who together tore down barbed wire fences and attacked National Guard troops, with one of them being kicked in the knee during the melee, were “fired” following the verdict.

It was not immediately clear whether they would then be returned to federal custody, where they would be processed for deportation for entering the country illegally, or released on the streets of El Paso.

The El Paso County Court, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office did not immediately say Thursday where the 211 migrants were when contacted by The Post.

The migrants were all arrested by Texas authorities on charges of rioting after the stampede at an area known as Gate 36, according to shocking footage obtained by the Post.

The riot charge carried a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.

The migrants were mostly adult men who vastly outnumbered the guards. They had attempted to group them together so they could be taken into CBP custody.

Nine migrants were later identified as “leaders” of the stampede and eight of them are in custody. There are additional felony charges that will be heard separately from the rioting charges.

The final instigator, Venezuelan migrant Gabriel Enrique Angarita Carrasquero, 22, was released into the United States by border police after the incident and remains on the run.

He allegedly assaulted a Texas soldier, according to an internal federal memo on his case previously reviewed by The Post.

Thirty-nine of those involved in the riot were released at a bail hearing in March because a judge ruled that El Paso prosecutors had failed to schedule detention hearings for each defendant individually.

“If the prosecution indicates that it is not prepared to proceed, we will release these individuals at our own discretion,” presiding judge Humberto Acosta ruled at the time.

However, instead of being released, the 39 people were transferred to federal custody where they were expected to be processed for deportation.

Since the incursion, Texas has deployed hundreds of additional troops to the area and erected additional fences to prevent illegal border crossings. Mexico has also increased patrols on its side of the Rio Grande in Juárez.

San Diego, California, has become the busiest area for illegal border crossings into the United States. In April alone, over 37,000 people were arrested for attempting to cross the border. However, migrants still find ways to evade authorities and enter the United States illegally.

Over 600,000 people entered the United States illegally in fiscal year 2023 without being apprehended by border officials, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted last October.