A Texas judge ordered the release of migrants arrested for storming the border after national guard troops, angering Republicans calling for stronger enforcement.
Footage showed asylum seekers pushing past troops and a border fence in El Paso before authorities regained control.
While arrests have decreased from December, crossings in January still ranked among the highest.
Texas Governor Abbott and GOP officials have sought to implement state immigration laws to arrest and remove suspected illegal immigrants, but these face legal challenges.
The judge presiding over bond hearings for the border incident defendants ruled that all charged with “riot participation” would be released due to the district attorney’s office not being prepared.
It was unclear if this included those facing assault or criminal mischief charges related to migrants tearing down razor wire and rushing the fence.
The judge denied a request to delay hearings.
“It is the ruling of the court that all the rioting participation cases will be released on their recognizance,” Magistrate Judge Humberto Acosta said.
“So, if the DA’s office is telling me that they are not ready to go, what we’re going to do is we’re going to release all these individuals on their recognizance,” Acosta said.
In response, Abbott noted deploying additional national guard troops to hold the border, while Elon Musk criticized the Biden administration for not securing the border in light of conflicting court rulings over Texas’ immigration law.
“More than 700 National Guard troops surged to El Paso after migrants breached the razor wire barrier. That includes 200 soldiers of the Texas Tactical Border Force deployed to El Paso this past week. Mission: Hold the line & deny illegal entry,” Abbott wrote.
“Crazy that Texas has to do the job of the Biden administration, which filed aggressive legal action to stop the state! If anyone still doesn’t believe that ushering in illegals is the goal of the Biden administration, this should convince them,” Musk wrote.
