Thread: Group calls on motorists to assist entrants in need

Group calls on motorists to assist entrants in need
By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.09.2007
advertisementIf you are a driver in Southern Arizona, a newly-formed immigrant aid group has a favor to ask: Please carry extra water in your vehicle this summer to help stem deaths along the border.
Since the start of the fiscal year Oct. 1, at least 116 illegal entrants have died while traveling in the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, including 15 who died over an 18-day stretch in the June and July heat.
Dr. Norma Price, a volunteer with the immigrant aid group Samaritan Patrol, on Monday called the deaths, "an indictment on us as a community."
Price and other volunteers talked about encountering ill and dehydrated illegal entrants who had been standing at the side of local highways waiting hours for help as cars passed them by.
"It's our moral responsibility to help these people," Price said during a news conference held at Southside Presbyterian Church. "Don't assume someone else is going to help . . . Stop, give them water and ask if they need help. You must help the stranger in your midst."
Monday's call to action came from a new local coalition that calls itself BorderNet and includes the groups BorderLinks, CoalicÃ*on de Derechos Humanos, Samaritans, Christian Peacemaker Teams, No More Deaths and Citizens for Border Solutions. The coalition identifies itself as a border human rights group.
"We call on everyone in Arizona to join us in offering assistance," local attorney and No More Deaths volunteer Margo Cowan said.
U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Richard DeWitt on Monday said his agency would never discourage anyone from offering aid to a person in distress. But he posited a caution.
"There's always a danger in approaching strangers," he said. "Out in the open areas there are a percentage of criminals among all the individuals who are apprehended. Oftentimes desperation leads people to do behaviors they might not normally be prone to."
BorderNet members countered that no one should be afraid to help. Not only is there nothing to be afraid of, helping is a moral imperative, Cowan said.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/191035

a newly-formed immigrant aid group has a favor to ask: Please carry extra water in your vehicle this summer to help stem deaths ...

THIS NEWLY FORMED IMMIGRANT AID GROUP CAN PARTICIPATE IN SAVING THE LIVES OF ILLEGAL ENTRANTS BY LODGING A CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO DISCOURAGING THEM FROM CROSSING THE BORDER. PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO STOP AND HELP ILLEGALS. HOW DO THEY KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THEY DO? ANYONE CAN CROSS THE BORDER SO HOW DO THEY KNOW IT IS SAFE TO STOP?

a newly-formed immigrant aid group has a favor to ask: Please carry extra water in your vehicle this summer to help stem deaths along the border.

Yeah...and a newly formed bank robber's rights group has a favor to ask too: Please don't park your car near the front door so that the robber can park there and make a quick getaway.

Thank you for your kind consideration. Bank robbers appreciate your compassion for their plight. After all, they desperately need the money to feed their families.

It's called "aiding and abetting."

If you stop, they might take your car AND your water. The proper action is to call the border patrol.

"It's our moral responsibility to help these people," Price said during a news conference held at Southside Presbyterian Church. "Don't assume someone else is going to help . . . Stop, give them water and ask if they need help. You must help the stranger in your midst."

This is AZ. Look at the # of cars stolen here. Can I assume someone will help me after I offer them water and get carjacked? After standing on the side of the highway for 10 minutes in 114 degree weather I assume I will look like either 1) a hooker or 2) an addict. That sounds like a really good thing a church is recommending people do. Yeah, stop your car and offer assistance. Offer them your keys and purse and don't forget to offer them your babies who are in the back seat while your at it. Really smart idea.

Why doesn't this group build a maternity ward on the Mexican side of the border? The Selective Service System has also notified immigrant service group that young males between 18 and 26 are required to register, even if they are here illegally.

Carry a jug of water and your cell phone so you can call the Border patrol and turn these criminals in! Use the water as bait.

Originally Posted by jimpasz

Since the start of the fiscal year Oct. 1, at least 116 illegal entrants have died while traveling in the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, including 15 who died over an 18-day stretch in the June and July heat.

Let's do the math: 116 illegals died since October 1, 2006. Americans die at a rate of 25 per day because of illegals.

www.city-data.com/forum/immigration/350 ... liens.html

Since October 1, 2006 that would equate to 7,500 dead Americans.

I need a glass of water to swallow this liberal, bleeding-heart stuff.

31scout wrote:

Carry a jug of water and your cell phone so you can call the Border patrol and turn these criminals in! Use the water as bait.