Illegal Immigrants, Charged in Border Riot, Released by Judge

Townhall Media/Julio Rosas

On Wednesday, a county judge dismissed charges against members of a large group of illegal immigrants who stormed the border on March 21st of this year. The group of almost exclusively young men pushed past a row of concertina wire in an attempt to illegally enter the United States. County Court judge Ruben Morales has dismissed 211 counts in the case, citing procedural errors and claiming not to have any jurisdiction. The El Paso District Attorney plans to appeal.

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The El Paso district attorney on Thursday said his office will appeal a judge’s ruling that dismissed riot charges against hundreds of illegal immigrants who surged past troops in Texas and forced their way deeper into the U.S.

Authorities arrested more than 200 illegal immigrants on state rioting charges in the March 21 incident in which a group of predominantly adult male migrants pushed through concertina wire set up along the border with Mexico.

Footage of the incident went viral and fueled an ongoing dispute between Texas and the Biden administration about how to handle the ongoing crisis at the border. 

Judge Ruben Morales claimed that procedures involving the transfer of the 211 cases to his court were not properly followed and dismissed the cases.

But a county court judge dismissed 211 cases at a hearing Wednesday, saying that proper procedures were not followed in regard to an order transferring jurisdiction to his court, the El Paso Times reported. Judge Ruben Morales said his hands were tied on the matter.

"If I don't have jurisdiction," the judge Morales said, "there's nothing I can do on these cases" except dismiss them, according to the Times.

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Judge Morales was elected (not appointed) to the El Paso County Court in 2018 and is a registered Democrat.

The El Paso District Attorney held a press conference on the issue on Thursday

In a press conference Thursday, District Attorney Bill Hicks said his office disagreed with the ruling and intended to appeal.

"We argued that it was appropriate and proper, and we feel that very strongly, and we feel that … it was done appropriately and that his order is an improper order," he said. "We have intentions of appealing his order to the Court of Appeals.

"It is not a good order. Because of that, and because we feel that the law is on our side, we have every intention of appealing his dismissal orders."


See Related: North Carolina Student Sues School Board After Being Suspended for Saying ‘Illegal Aliens’ 

Illegal Immigrants Adopt Left-Wing Tactics in Denver, Make Insane List of Demands


It's not at all clear that, if the ruling should be overturned, any of the illegal aliens initially charged will be able to be found.

Judge Morales' ruling aside, the root cause of this incident and others like it is the Biden administration's non-existent border enforcement. The last three years' non-enforcement has emboldened illegal immigrants; note in this case that now the 200+ illegals who stormed the border are being released to the Border Patrol, not for deportation but for "processing," meaning they will claim asylum, be granted a hearing date some years in the future, and handed over to an NGO who will give them cash and a phone and transport them to one of our cities, where many of these young, military-aged men will simply disappear.

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The situation on our southern border is gross malfeasance on the part of the Biden administration. This incident is just one of many resulting from the lack of enforcement.

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