Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) — Andre Poissant, branch manager of the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Las Cruces says his office is being severely strained. He says that military border-zone violations cases are straining courts and detention facilities, and raising questions about whether migrants knew they were entering restricted land. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, federal prosecutors charged 285 people with illegal entry and two military property-related offenses during the four weeks ending Oct. 30th. Poissant said the workload requires attorneys to prepare defenses for new clients while managing existing cases. He said pressure on detention space has also prompted officials to send some clients to Arizona.
