Latest news with #Wormuth
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge dismisses charges for 98 migrants who crossed into New Mexico military zone
Trespassing charges for dozens who crossed into a new military zone in New Mexico have been dismissed by a federal judge. Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth began filing dismissals late Wednesday into Thursday, reported Reuters, citing court documents. Wormuth ruled that migrants did not know they were entering the New Mexico military zone and therefore could not be charged. A total of 98 people had the trespassing charges dropped, according to ABC News. The migrants still face charges for crossing the border illegally, reported Reuters. Dozens have received 'Title 50' charges for crossing into military defense property, a 170-square-mile strip along the base of New Mexico, also known as the Roosevelt Reservation, according to a news release by the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico. The corridor was recently transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Defense and is now being treated as an extension of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachuca, the news release said. The land is subject to military patrols and surveillance, with "U.S. troops authorized to temporarily detain and transfer individuals to federal law enforcement for prosecution." According to Reuters, Wormuth pushed back against the trespassing charges and ordered New Mexico U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, who filed the first trespassing charges, to show proof that migrants arrested in the New Mexico zone knew they had entered a restricted area. Defense attorneys argued that warning signs in the area were inadequate to inform migrants they were committing a crime, a position Wormuth agreed with, Reuters reported. A second military zone has also been created in the El Paso area, which will be part of the Fort Bliss Army base. The area stretches about 53 miles east to the border community of Fort Hancock. Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@ @NatassiaPaloma on Twitter; natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma Thompson on Facebook. More: Amnesty International report finds disregard for human rights in El Paso ICE facility This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Charges dismissed for migrants who crossed into military zone
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal magistrate judge dismisses trespassing charges against 98 arrested in new military zone
Dozens of immigrants who illegally crossed into the U.S. via a newly established military-controlled zone along the U.S.-Mexico border have had their trespassing charges dismissed. Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth began filing the dismissals late on Wednesday, ruling the immigrants did not know they were entering the military zone – known as the New Mexico National Defense Area (NMNDA) – and therefore could not be charged, according to court documents. Wormuth ruled that the federal government failed to demonstrate probable cause that the immigrants knew they were entering the zone. The government had argued in a criminal complaint that the military had posted signs in the zones stating in both English and Spanish that it was a restricted area and that unauthorized entry is prohibited. Us Military Stationed At The Border In New Mexico National Defense Area Can Detain Illegal Migrants Despite signs indicating restricted access, the judge noted that the challenging terrain made it unlikely that the defendants saw the warnings. Read On The Fox News App The decision marks a setback for the Trump administration's border crackdown as the trespassing charges were central to enforcing the NMNDA. READ THE ORDER – App Users, Click Here: The NMNDA was established in April and spans approximately 180 miles along the southern New Mexico border. U.S. Army personnel now patrol the area and are authorized to detain unauthorized entrants. "Beyond the reference to signage, the United States provides no facts from which one could reasonably conclude that the Defendant knew he was entering the NMNDA (New Mexico National Defense Area)," wrote Wormuth in a 16-page ruling. Wormuth has served as a U.S. magistrate judge since 2009. Magistrate judges are appointed by district court judges and not by the president. The judge dismissed two charges faced by the 98 arrested immigrants: violation of a security regulation and entering military property for an unlawful purpose, both misdemeanors. A third misdemeanor charge of entering the U.S. illegally remains. Up to May 9, Ellison's office reported charging 339 migrants for entering the New Mexico military area. Trump Orders Military To Take Control Of Federal Land At Southern Border Last month, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum visited New Mexico to announce that the Army was taking control of the federal land as part of the Trump administration's efforts to curb illegal immigration and trafficking. The 109,651 acres of federal land was transferred to the Army for three years, subject to valid existing rights. The switch in jurisdiction allows the government to protect sensitive natural and cultural resources in the region, while helping the Army support U.S. Border Patrol operations in securing the border and preventing illegal immigration, according to the Department of the Interior. In March, the Defense Department authorized the military to patrol the southern border to provide "enhanced detection and monitoring" to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Fox News Digital emailed and called a Department of Justice attorney involved in the case for comment. Fox News' Louis Casiano and Reuters contributed to this report. Original article source: Federal magistrate judge dismisses trespassing charges against 98 arrested in new military zone
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US Attorney challenges judge on military zone prosecutions
May 12—The U.S. Attorney in New Mexico is criticizing the chief U.S. Magistrate judge for seeking legal views about trespassing violations in the state's new military defense zone, urging the judge to "correct course" to avoid "further impropriety." In a nine-page "objection" filed Sunday, U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison sought to preempt a judicial opinion about the elements of criminally charging people illegally crossing into the U.S. with additional crimes of entering a restricted military zone and violating defense property security regulations. The unusual court filing from the government comes just weeks after the Trump administration began the prosecution practice by designating a 60-foot-wide swath along New Mexico's southern border as military property called the New Mexico National Defense Area. The action was viewed as a way to legally use military troops for domestic law enforcement on American soil. The 170-mile long stretch is part of the federal government's "broader efforts to protect and defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States in light of the 'National Emergency' caused by, among other things, unchecked unlawful mass migration," wrote Ellison, who was appointed April 19 by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. With hundreds of defendants now facing such misdemeanor charges in Las Cruces federal court, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth on May 1 requested input from the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Federal Public Defender's office citing the scarcity of caselaw relating to these offenses and "the unprecedented nature of prosecuting such offenses in this factual context." The judge wanted to hear about the standards of proof needed to find defendants guilty in these kinds of cases, such as whether offenders would have had to know they were on military property or willfully intended to violate the no-trespassing edict. Ellison's office on May 5 filed a 14-page defending the prosecution practice. But in his objection filed days later, Ellison called judge's solicitation of legal views an "extraordinary departure" from "foundational principles" because it wasn't spurred by any particular case. The request was issued without prompting from any party, outside the context of any particular case, "absent any relation to an identified defendant, on a miscellaneous docket, and untethered to any contemplated or requested relief," Ellison wrote. Moreover, the judge's request "was an improper exercise of the Court's authority," he contended. He urged Wormuth to avoid "further impropriety of issuing an advisory opinion purporting to provide views on abstract questions of law that have not yet been properly raised in any case by any party." Amanda Skinner, of the federal public defender's office, contended in her May 8 response to Wormuth that the signage warning those stepping into the defense zone is inadequate, but the U.S. Attorney's office argued such notification wasn't required to prove someone violated the military-related laws. The fact that someone has intentionally entered the zone from Mexico through an area other than a designated port of entry and knows that conduct is unlawful is enough to find someone guilty of the military zone infractions, federal prosecutors maintain. The 12 x 18-inch signs, which are posted on stakes inside the zone, are in English and Spanish, but no other languages. Skinner, who couldn't be reached for comment Monday, asked Wormuth to hear oral arguments on the issue. Ellison wrote that it appeared the judge's "premature and inappropriate effort to decide questions before it" was apparently "designed to provide legal guidance to courts across all cases, present and future, across the district." The New Mexico defense zone is a "crucial installation necessary to strengthen the authority of servicemembers to help secure our borders and safeguard the country. The Court should therefore be particularly reluctant to stray beyond the constitutional limits of 'judicial power' and unilaterally impose its legal views in cases implicating national sovereignty."
Fox News
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Army recruiting is up, but data show trend began before the election, current and former Army officials say
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Sen. Tom Cotton attributed increased Army recruiting numbers to "America First" leadership and "the Trump effect." However, data indicates that recruiting numbers began to improve months before the U.S. Presidential election, according to current and former officials. "You had some number of young men and women who didn't want to join the army over the last four years under Joe Biden and Christine Wormuth, the former secretary of the Army, when they thought it was more focused on Wokeness and DEI and climate change," Cotton told Fox's America's Newsroom. "That's not why young men and women join our military. They do it because they love the country." The uptick in recruiting started months before the election on November 5. "No, it did not all start in December," former Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, who served until Jan. 20, said in an interview with Fox News. "Army's recruiting started getting better much earlier. We really started seeing the numbers, the monthly numbers, go up in February of 2024. We were seeing sort of in the high 5000 contracts per month, and that accelerated, you know, into the spring all the way into August, when the Army really hit a peak." Starting in Oct. 2023, the Army put 1,200 more recruiters in the field. By Sept. 2024, before the election, the Army announced it had exceeded its recruiting goals. The groundwork was laid that October when Wormuth and Gen Randy George, the Army chief, began a sweeping initiative to help those who did not meet academic standards or fitness requirements. The six-week pre-boot camp, called the Future Soldier Prep Course, helps lower-performing recruits meet enlistment standards. They also moved away from just recruiting in high schools to posting on job message boards. Recruiters got trained by Amazon, Wells Fargo and other industry leaders in talent acquisition. And the Army brought back the "Be All That You Can Be" branding campaign from the 1980s. "We've been selecting soldiers who have personalities that are more suited to recruiting. We improved our marketing very dramatically in terms of being very data driven and very targeted. And then, of course, the future Soldier Prep course, which the Army established some time ago, has been a big success and has accounted last year for about 25% of the new recruits that came in," Wormuth said. "If you look at our Army ads, we show young people, you know, jumping out of helicopters. We show kids doing, you know, night patrols in the jungle." Army data shows the Army has struggled with recruiting numbers since COVID, including a shortfall of 15,000 recruits in 2022. It reported record-breaking recruitment in Dec. 2024, with nearly 350 recruits enlisting daily and the total number of active duty soldiers reaching 5877 recruits that month. Secretary Hegseth praised the recruiting numbers in a post on X: "@USArmy: @USAREC had their most productive December in 15 years by enlisting 346 Soldiers daily into the World's greatest #USArmy! "Our Recruiters have one of the toughest jobs - inspiring the next generation of #Soldiers to serve. "Congratulations and keep up the great work!" But August of last year, three months prior to the election, saw a higher number of recruits than in December – 7,415 recruits compared to the 5,877 in December. And January 2025 still has not surpassed August 2024 for the highest monthly count of the past year. In other words, the positive recruiting trend began before the election. The increased recruiting numbers resulted from more women joining. Women made up 19% of the recruits last year, the highest rate to date. "For example, right now, 16% of the overall Army is women. And so, having a year where almost 20% of the new recruits are women is a notable increase," Wormuth said. "In 2024, we also had the highest ever recruiting year for Hispanics." There is a lag of about 10–12 weeks from the time a recruit enters a recruiting office and actually signs up due to medical exams and other paperwork. "The biggest reasons young people are hesitant to join the Army is because of fear of death or injury, fear of leaving their families, a sense that maybe somehow, you know, joining the Army will put their lives on hold for a period of time," Wormuth said. "Concerns about so-called wokeness are very low on the list of obstacles for most young people. And the last time the Army ran that survey, we didn't really see a change. That remains to be a small concern." During its recruiting crisis, the Army had seen a drop in the number of families who typically send their children to serve, families whose members have served for generations. Many of those families tended to be white and from one of the 10 states that make up nearly half of the recruits: Texas (13.3%), California (10.5%), Florida (9.7%), Georgia (5.1%), North Carolina (4.6%), New York (4.3%), Virginia (2.9%), Ohio (2.8%), Illinois (2.6%) and Pennsylvania (2.4%). There is no data suggesting a surge in white males joining the Army last year. In FY2024, 40% of the Army recruits were Caucasian, 25% were Black and 26% were Hispanic. "From the data we saw, there was no discernible change in young white men joining the Army compared to the spring of 2024. The Army had about 7400 recruits in August, and in December it was about 5800," Wormuth said. The Army is also set to expand its basic training capacity in the spring. "U.S. Army Recruiting Command is on track to exceed the fiscal year 2025 recruitment goal of 61,000 new Soldiers and an additional 10,000 in the Delayed Entry Program," Madison Bonzo, U.S. Army Recruiting Command spokeswoman, said in a statement. "As of today, USAREC has contracted 59% of the current FY25 goal. Our success couldn't be possible without the hard work of our Recruiters, continued transformation of the recruiting enterprise and modernization initiatives to attract qualified talent into America's most lethal fighting force." Wormuth said: "I would say we saw in the Army recruiting numbers, we started seeing us really get traction in February of 2024." "And we continued to build those numbers up to about, you know, high 5,000, 6,000 a month in August. And the Army has continued that momentum going into the end of the year. And I think the winds are at the Army's back for coming into 2025," she continued. Former Army officials warn that it is dangerous to link Army recruiting successes to the election cycle, since the military is supposed to be apolitical. Soldiers sign up not to serve a president or a party but to serve the Constitution.
