Hearings held for migrants accused of confrontations with Texas National Guard

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso Magistrate Judge Humberto Acosta ordered the release of migrants accused of storming a portion of the border fence placed by the Texas National Guard on March 21.

The Texas Department of Public Safety booked around 220 migrants on riot charges.

The hearing was held on April 1 at around 11 a.m.

El Paso Public Defender Kelli Childress requested her defendant in this case to remain at El Paso County Jail, because if was is turned over to a federal immigration center, she would not be able to communicate with him.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Vandenbosch said during the hearing the state is now prepared to proceed with each of the over 40 hearings, after Sunday's ruling by Judge Acosta.

ABC-7 spoke with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office which said County Jails are at capacity after these over two hundred people were arrested.

According to a spokeswoman with the Sheriff's Office, the Downtown Detention Facility has capacity for 1,010 people; currently, they have over 900.

The Jail Annex has capacity for over 1,850 people; currently they have over 1,750.

"The arrest of 200 individuals at one given time is not something that many large correctional facilities ever see. So, we'll make accommodations because we are bound to hold individuals under state charges," said Commander Ryan Urrutia with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.

ABC-7 also reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety which is the lead agency in this investigation.

Sergeant Eliot Torres said the department's headquarters are working on a news release related to the hearing.