By the #s: Federal prosecutors slow down on charges for unauthorized entry into NM's military base
The border wall seen from the northern edge of the New Mexico National Defense Area east of Columbus, N.M. in late May. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)
Federal prosecutors this month charged fewer people for allegedly trespassing on the newly established military base along New Mexico's border with Mexico, according to a Source New Mexico review of federal court records.
Over the last two months or so, 570 people have been charged for 'unauthorized entry' into what is now effectively a military base along the border, Source's review shows. On April 15, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the transfer of land from the Bureau of Land Management to the military, effectively making the 180-mile border New Mexico shares with Mexico into an extended military base tied to Fort Huachuca in Arizona.
Along with empowering the United States Army to patrol the border and temporarily detain people they found, the transfer exposed people arrested to a new criminal charge of unauthorized entry, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. The area transferred to the military is a little more than 400 square miles, minus state and private land, running roughly along the New Mexico Panhandle and south of Highway 9 before Hachita.
Prosecutors announced the new type of criminal charge in late April and began filing charging documents soon after, with as many as 58 people facing the new misdemeanors in a single day in early May.
But the charges quickly proved vulnerable to legal challenges based, partly, on whether people knew they were illegally entering a military base. The military has posted small warning signs in English and Spanish along the northern and southern borders of the so-called National Defense Area that entry is prohibited.
On May 14, a federal judge dismissed more than 100 of the charges, after federal public defenders raised the issue on behalf of their clients.
The dismissals coincided with a one-day dip in the number of unauthorized entry charges being brought, according to Source's review. The number of daily charges picked up again before beginning to decline early this month.
Since May 30, just 11 people have been charged with unauthorized entry, according to federal filings.
The reason for the decrease is unclear, including whether it's because fewer people are crossing or whether federal prosecutors have changed their strategy. Tessa Duberry, a spokesperson for the office, did not respond to a request for comment on the decrease.
In addition to the judge's dismissals, the U.S. Attorney's Office dismissed at least three of its own unauthorized entry charges due to confusion about where the boundaries of the NDA lie.
Confusion reigns in New Mexico's militarized border zone
Meanwhile, the Army has warned hunters and hikers that they could be prosecuted if they enter the area, but per an informal agreement, ranchers can drive past the signs without issue as they tend to cattle they graze on former BLM land they lease in the NDA.
Public defenders are also challenging the charge in a couple of individual cases, including one instance in which the charging documents suggest the arrestee was picked up in Arizona, and another involving a citizen of Uzbekistan who, her attorneys argue, didn't read or speak English or Spanish and therefore couldn't have known she was entering a restricted area.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) this week questioned Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll in a Congressional committee hearing, saying widespread confusion exists about who can enter the area and 'where the boundaries of this military zone actually start and where they end.'
Driscoll said the Army would work on improving signage and communication with people in the area and members of Congress.
'The army is working incredibly hard with our soldiers to put out signage. We have taken it over recently,' he responded.
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