A judge ordered migrants charged with rioting over the stampede past National Guard troops at the southern border in Texas to be released on Easter Sunday, according to a report.
Presiding Magistrate Judge Humberto Acosta ruled during a bond hearing for 39 of over 200 migrants charged with “riot participation” they should be set free, following the shocking caught-on-camera rush along the Rio Grande, according to the El Paso Times.
Acosta said the reason for releasing them was because the El Paso District Attorney’s Office had not scheduled individual detention hearings for each defendant, the paper said.
A judge released at least some migrants accused of being part of the riot at the border. AP“It does not appear that these cases will be filed anytime soon, as they do not seem to be in the DA’s office. So if the DA is indicating they are not ready to proceed, we are going to release these individuals on their own recognizances,” the judge ruled.
However, upon release the individuals were transferred to federal custody, where they remain under federal immigration detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Texas authorities had arrested the migrants on riot-related charges after fences and razor wire was ripped down and guards were knocked over as people tried to get to a border gate, according to shocking footage captured by The Post.
The migrants were mostly adult males and they severely outnumbered the guardsmen who had been trying to place them into groups so they could be taken into Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) custody on March 21.
Some migrants were additionally hit with assault of a public servant and criminal mischief charges, which are being heard separately from the riot charges, the El Paso Times reported.
Assistant District Attorney Ashley M. Martinez requested on Sunday to delay the hearings, but Acosta denied that request.
Male migrants are escorted south behind a barrier by the Texas National Guard on the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, March 21, 2024. APAn official previously told The Post last week that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was holding more than 200 migrants that authorities wanted to arrest and charge.
However, federal officials had not at that time been as cooperative as the Border Patrol.
Another hearing is expected Monday, per the El Paso Times.
The Post has sought comment from the district attorney’s office.
Texas has introduced a law to allow national guardsmen and state authorities to arrest migrants who enter the country illegally, but the Biden administration has sought to strike it down and it remains on hold while the supreme court debates the case.
Early in March, the law briefly went into effect when a split US Supreme Court allowed it to progress while the legal challenge played out.
