The Ecuadorian man was acquitted by a jury on a separate charge after crossing into the new military zone in May.

A federal judge in west Texas has joined other courts in temporarily blocking the deportations of Venezuelan immigrants under an 18th-century wartime law known as the Alien Enemies Act.

A federal appeals court late Wednesday ruled the Trump Administration can use nearly $4 billion in military funds for construction of the president’s long-promised border wall. The $3.6 billion had been earmarked by the Trump administration for construction of 11 barriers on the southern border, CNN reported Wednesday. The Trump administration asked the appeals court to consider the matter on December 16. "The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has lifted an illegitimate nationwide injunction entered by a lower court, and in doing so has allowed vital border wall construction to move forward using military construction funds. “A court has already determined that the government can’t lawfully use military construction funds to build Trump’s border wall,” Parker said in a statement.