El Paso, TX: State officials disclosed the identities of seven migrants who were apprehended on felony charges related to rioting and assaulting law enforcement officers during a confrontation with Operation Lone Star forces in the Lower Valley of El Paso.
Officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed the arrest of 214 additional migrants in connection with a March 21 confrontation between asylum-seeking migrants and Texas National Guard troops and disclosed the names of the migrants on Wednesday, April 3.
The names of the apprehended individuals are:
- Junior Evaristo Benitez-Martinez, 21, of Venezuela. Charges: rioting – felony, criminal mischief, and assaulting a public servant.
- Keider Jose Zurita Aponte, 21, of Venezuela. Charges: rioting – felony, criminal mischief, and assault public servant.
- Gregori Jose Guilarte-Acosta, 18, of Venezuela. Charges: rioting – felony, criminal mischief, and assault public servant.
- Omar Alejandro Graterol Colmenares, 27, Venezuela. Charges: rioting – felony, criminal mischief, and assault public servant.
- Joshua Fernando Garcia Juarez, 18, of Guatemala. Charge: rioting – a felony.
- Luis Jesus Chacon, 27, of Venezuela. Charge: rioting – a felony.
- Martin Elias Villasis Cedeno, 46, of Ecuador. Charge: rioting – a felony.
Razor-wire barriers installed by Texas National Guard soldiers on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, which were situated on U.S. soil, were breached by migrants. They stormed the border barrier in an attempt to surrender to U.S. Border Patrol agents in exchange for asylum or other forms of immigration relief after overwhelming state forces.
214 additional migrants were apprehended on state rioting charges, a class B misdemeanor, according to DPS officials. Not even the identities of those migrants were disclosed.
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Federal law enforcement officers initially apprehended the migrants on a charge of unauthorized entrance into the United States, and they were subsequently appointees of the El Paso County Jail. According to officials, they were subsequently rebooked into the El Paso County Jail on accusations related to state rioting.
DPS officials stated that all 214 migrants are being detained until they can be processed by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement. Men and women hailing from El Salvador, Venezuela, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Honduras comprise the migrant community.
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The confrontation commenced when the migrants unlawfully traversed the U.S.-Mexico border by breaching concertina wire barriers at Gate 36 of the border fence in El Paso’s Lower Valley.