El Paso County Court at Law 7 Judge Ruben Morales on Monday found no probable cause from Texas Department of Public Safety state troopers to restrain the 140 migrants who were arrested earlier this month for rioting, according to the El Paso Times.
The judge dismissed 140 cases against migrants charged with rioting at the U.S. southern border.
“After reviewing the affidavit, I don’t believe that (probable cause) exists,” Morales stated during the hearing, according to the El Paso Times. “I don’t believe there is probable cause for these individuals to continue to be detained for the offense of riot participation.”
The Daily Caller News Foundation reports of the incident:
there were more than 300 migrants in the group at the time of the incident, but a state prosecutor alleged that the push forward by roughly 140 of them prompted the Texas National State Guard to pull back, constituting a riot, WFXR reported. A public defender argued that the arrest affidavits didn’t specify what each migrant did, or identify which agent or officer who witnessed them do it.
“It’s like someone at the front of a line at a concert gets in a fight with the bouncer and you arrest everyone that was in line,” El Paso County Chief Public Defender Kelli Childress stated, according to WFXR.
Federal immigration authorities have placed detainer requests on these migrants for unlawful entry into the U.S., which means they must remain in county jail for up to two days until they are transferred into federal custody, WFXR reported.
