Denver: Two on Trial for Saving Lives
Denver, CO - Three migrants were rescued in the 105-degree Arizona desert, July 9, 2005. They were reported to be suffering from dehydration and blisters, that if left untreated could well have prevented them from walking out of the desert, leading to almost certain death. Now the two volunteers who came to their aid, Shanti Shellz and Daniel Strauss, volunteers for the organization No More Deaths, are facing a trial and possible jail time.
Shellz and Strauss are volunteers for the organization No More Deaths / No Mas Muertes. It is a coalition of individuals, faith-based organizations and human rights organizations that work for justice along the Mexico-U.S. border. It is not uncommon for migrants to die in the Sonora desert. Shellz and Strauss consulted three medical professionals and a No More Deaths attorney who all advised that the migrants be placed in medical care. The two volunteers were driving the three men to a volunteer medical clinic in Tucson when they were stopped by the border patrol and arrested.
Shellz and Strauss were charged with two federal felonies, including transporting illegal aliens and conspiring to do so. These charges carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The Border Patrol claims that the migrants’ lives were not in danger and therefore they did not need humanitarian aid. According to Shellz and Strauss’s attorneys it is not illegal to provide humanitarian assistance and they have requested that the charges be dropped. This request was denied on Dec. 14 and the trial date has been set for April 25.
In 2005 alone, 279 immigrants lost their lives trying to cross the Mexico-U.S. border in the Tucson Border Patrol Sector, according to the No More Deaths 2005 year-end report. The number of deaths along the border has increased steadily since our government’s blockade policy began in 1995. This policy, called Operation Hold the Line, along with other federal legislation, has militarized the border and forced many immigrants who would most likely have crossed the border through safer urban areas into the deserts between San Diego and El Paso. The result has been thousands of needless deaths.
We cannot stand for the arrests of Shellz, Strauss and others like them who perform humanitarian aid, while the racist and vigilante Minutemen are allowed to patrol the border. Contact No More Deaths at www.nomoredeaths.org and help say, “Humanitarian aid is never a crime.”
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