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Humanitarian group now cooperating with Border Patrol on rescues

Susan Carroll
Republic Tucson Bureau
Jul. 19, 2006 12:00 AM

ARIVACA - Steve Johnston pointed to a gently sloping hill just outside the No More Deaths camp, a smattering of tents and old campers in the remote desert outside this community.

That spot, the No More Deaths volunteer said, is where Border Patrol agents typically sit to watch the immigrant-aid humanitarians through night-vision goggles in an action symbolic of the tensions between the two groups.

Now, leaders of the humanitarian-aid movement have modified how they approach medical emergencies involving undocumented immigrants to avoid landing volunteers in prison.

They also are trying to mend their relationship with top Border Patrol officials in Tucson, who have pledged to arrest anyone who transports undocumented immigrants regardless of the mission or the victim's medical condition.

On July 9, 2005, two No More Deaths volunteers were arrested after giving three undocumented immigrants, who they said were in serious need of medical help, a ride from the camp to a clinic in a Tucson church.

The volunteers, Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, both 24, are awaiting trial on federal charges of transporting illegal immigrants.

No More Deaths humanitarian and religious workers, who provide thousands of migrants crisscrossing Arizona's desert with food and water, have had cordial, if strained, relations with the Border Patrol. But with the group's May shift in policy after the arrests, the two have pledged to work together.

"This year, the Border Patrol is our partner," Johnston said. "It's not adversarial anymore."


Volunteers arrested


Strauss, one of the young volunteers facing up to 15 years in prison, if convicted, said the July day he was arrested started out like any other. It was the midst of a 45-day heat spell, and he walked the latticework of trails that run northeast toward the camp, nestled near the Papalote Wash, northwest of Nogales and near Arivaca.

Strauss found no one and ran into another volunteer back at camp who said nine people were up the road in need food and water.

He said it was pretty clear that three members of the group were in bad shape. They were vomiting, he said, and reported having blood in their stools.

He called a nurse, who called a doctor, and the decision was made to take them to a clinic set up at a Tucson church, he said.

The three undocumented immigrants sat in the back of Sellz's old Subaru, and they pulled out onto a dirt road heading toward Tucson. They were pulled over within minutes, Strauss said.

The New York native had a moment to call his wife before he and Sellz were taken into custody, he said.

At first, he wasn't too worried. He figured it would all be sorted out. The Border Patrol had stopped other volunteers before.

"We followed the No More Deaths protocol we thought had been approved by the Border Patrol," he said. "We didn't think we were breaking the law."

Days later, still waiting in a jail cell, it started to sink in, he said. He realized they weren't going to just let him go.

In a federal court hearing on a motion to dismiss the charges against Sellz and Strauss, Border Patrol and humanitarian leaders related conflicting histories of the humanitarian-aid movement in Arizona.

According to No More Deaths statistics, volunteers came into contact with 3,500 undocumented immigrants in 2005 in southern Arizona. They gave food and water to about 1,700 and medically evacuated 68.

Attorneys said the Border Patrol had an unwritten policy of looking the other way when such immigrants needed medical help.

But prosecutors countered that Sellz and Strauss broke the law and that there never was an agreement that would protect them from prison time.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernardo Velasco, who heard the arguments in the case, wrote in court documents that transporting the undocumented immigrants was "in furtherance" of illegal entry and allowed them to "melt" into Tucson. He recommended that the charges stick. A trial date is scheduled for October.


Reaching agreement


No More Deaths, a coalition of religious and humanitarian volunteers who work to reduce the death toll in the Arizona desert, has reached out to the Border Patrol by inviting an agent to its training sessions.

Leaders also have modified their policy for transporting undocumented immigrants, saying instead that volunteers need to call 911 or the Border Patrol in case of a medical emergency.

Joseph Nevin, a spokesman, said there has been at least one instance this year in which the group has called for help under the new protocol.

Margo Cowan, an attorney and No More Deaths volunteer, said the organization still has a fundamental disagreement with the U.S. government about whether it is legal to transport undocumented immigrants in need of medical help but modified the policy in a spirit of cooperation.

"The bottom line is that we would rather work together to save lives than fuss about whose legal interpretation prevails," she said.

Additionally, on July 11, the group launched a new partnership with the Mexican government, passing out food and water to undocumented immigrants as they are returned to Mexico by the Border Patrol. Volunteers stand at the ports of entry, giving away bottles of water and food, paid for by donations.

Border Patrol officials say they are trying to work with volunteers, to educate them on the law, said Gustavo Soto, a patrol spokesman.

But agents will not hesitate to arrest those helping undocumented immigrants reach a destination in the U.S., he said.


'Very straightforward'


"We've been very straightforward with them about what they can and can't do," he said. "If they encounter someone who is need of medical attention, they should call emergency medical services, and they should call the Border Patrol, so we can see if we have an emergency medical technician in the area. But under no circumstances should they be transporting anyone."

Strauss said he and Sellz, who were released after their first hearing, were offered plea deals months ago that would allow them to avoid prison but would require them to admit guilt. They rejected the offers.

"The language in it implied guilt," Strauss said. "We didn't think we were doing anything wrong by bringing someone to a hospital.

"We felt like if we accepted the plea (agreement), it would have a very negative effect on the humanitarian-aid movement on the U.S.-Mexico border. . . . In our opinion, it should be obvious that bringing someone to hospital should never be against the law."

Meanwhile, Johnston walked through the desert the morning after a monsoon rain.

"Hello, friends!" Johnston hollered out in Spanish. "We have food and water! We're with the church! We're not the Border Patrol!"

No one answered. He kept walking, singing Angel From Montgomery: "Just give me one thing that I can hold on to. To believe in this living is just a hard way to go."





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