A federal jury in Texas on Thursday (June 5) acquitted the first migrant to be tried for entering one of the newly established military zones along the U.S.-Mexico border, posing a legal challenge to the Trump administration's efforts to impose harsher penalties on unlawful border crossings. The case involved a 21-year-old woman from Peru, whose trial served as a test of whether the federal government could enforce additional charges against migrants entering restricted military areas in Texas and New Mexico.

Adely Vanessa De La Cruz-Alvarez had been charged with two counts related to unauthorized entry into a Texas military zone and one count of illegally entering the United States, following her May 12 arrest near Tornillo, approximately 30 miles from El Paso. On Thursday, an El Paso jury found her guilty of illegal U.S. entry but not guilty of trespassing on military property. The day prior, the judge had dismissed one of the trespassing charges, citing a lack of evidence that De La Cruz-Alvarez had seen any signs indicating she was in a Department of Defense restricted area.

Judge Laura Enriquez stated in her ruling that there was no indication De La Cruz had seen warning signs, was aware she had entered a military zone, or had any intent—deliberate or otherwise—to do so. Federal prosecutors argued that proving the migrant knew she was on military land wasn't necessary for the charge, only that she knowingly crossed the U.S. border illegally.

Her defense attorney, Veronica Teresa Lerma, did not immediately comment on the case. This trial follows previous rulings by magistrate judges in Texas and New Mexico, who dismissed similar trespassing charges against other migrants due to insufficient signage indicating the presence of military zones. The National Defense Areas were designated along 240 miles of the Texas and New Mexico border starting in April. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that migrants caught in these zones could face up to ten years in prison under combined charges.