US charges migrants over entering military ‘buffer zone’ on Mexico border

At least 28 people charged in federal court as civil liberties groups condemn enhanced militarization' of border lands

The US Department of Justice has begun the first criminal prosecutions of migrants for entering a newly declared military buffer zone created along the border with Mexico, according to court filings, Reuters reports.

At least 28 migrants were charged were charged in federal court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Monday for crossing into the 170-mile-long, 60ft-wide militarized buffer zone patrolled by active-duty US troops.