Thread: Group gears up to save illegal immigrants from perils of des

THURSDAY JUNE 7, 2007 Last modified:
Wednesday, June 6, 2007 8:41 PM PDT

Group gears up to save illegal immigrants from perils of desert

By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN/Associated Press

TUCSON - For the fourth straight summer, the humanitarian organization No More Deaths will have volunteers patrolling near Arivaca in southern Arizona hoping to prevent illegal immigrants from dying as they cross the desert.

Organizers expect about 600 volunteers - including physicians, nurses and other health professionals - to participate over the summer, like last year, with a permanent desert camp east of the small community of Arivaca. But they've added a few new wrinkles in their latest campaign to keep migrants alive.

In recent years, Arizona has been the busiest point along the U.S.-Mexico border for illegal entry, and it also has recorded the most deaths because of the hostile terrain and brutal triple-digit temperatures that await those crossing its desert regions.

More than 20 volunteers have taken an abbreviated emergency medical training course to become Wilderness First Responders, to be able to provide first aid such as treating ankle sprains or severe blisters.

In addition, volunteers using a camper will set up a mobile base camp north of Arivaca, moving to a new site every few days, with patrols twice a day systematically checking back roads and trails mapped with global positioning, said the Rev. Bob Carney, a Catholic priest from Tucson.

‘‘We'll be working in an area that we're quite familiar with,'' volunteer Steve Johnston added. ‘‘We spent the winter traveling the back roads north of Arivaca and mapping the trails.'' He said patrols will work on foot, by mountain bike and in two four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Relations between No More Deaths and the Border Patrol were frayed the past two summers after federal authorities charged two immigrant-aid workers with transporting illegal immigrants to get medical care.

But indictments against the two were dismissed by a federal judge.

Carney called a recent meeting Robert Gilbert, the new chief of the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, encouraging ‘‘because he listened.

‘‘He also said that humanitarian aid in the desert is a necessity. It kind of said to us that as long as we operate with transparency, within protocol, we're aboveboard, that our presence out there would not be a threat to what the Border Patrol is doing,'' Carney added.

Other No More Deaths volunteers with the first-aid training have been working with a Sonoran state commission at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales to aid illegal immigrants have voluntarily returned to Mexico after being caught by the Border Patrol.

Many are dehydrated and most need some type of treatment or aid, but a great number are too shy or humble to ask for help, said volunteer Jim Walsh.

During the last fiscal year, according to Border Patrol statistics, 220 people died crossing the Arizona border. It was the first time in several years that fewer people died than the year before.

‘‘We deeply hope one day soon that our services will no longer be needed,'' Carney said.

The Rev. Gene Lefebvre said the mobile site will be ‘‘easily moved to be an appropriate place for the migrant traffic. And it's going to be a small operation and very flexible.''

Because the location of the No More Deaths operations is close to where federal authorities are placing a virtual fence consisting of high-tech towers with radar, sensors and cameras to detect illegal border crossers, ‘‘we'll know first what the effect of those are - how the migrants respond, move, decrease or whatever,'' Lefebvre said.

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles ... state1.txt

Maybe this will save the taxpayers from picking up even more costs--such as through the county coroner.

The saddest part--as I have seen the open borders crowd in action--is that while they could be devoting their time to finding real solutions, they are instead unraveling and undermining the fabric of our society.

Here's a simple way to save them. Go to Kinko's and print up a bunch of posters and place them in their hometown in mejico: "STAY HOME!!"

Maybe we could ship some building materials down there and in their spare time the "volunteers" could build a few miles of fence? Imagine how many lives could be saved by preventing people from wandering into the desert? Hmmmm.

Hopefully, they will pick up all the trash left by the illegals, while they are at it.

I would be interested to know which group has rescued more illegal border crossers; this group or the minutemen.

These people are only encouraging more illegals to come. Their aiding & abetting. Why hasn't somebody charged them?

Originally Posted by had_enuf

These people are only encouraging more illegals to come. Their aiding & abetting. Why hasn't somebody charged them?

Exactly! The ironic thing is that the minutemen have a strict no touch policy because of the threat of being charged for"detaining" an illegal. Seems backwards.

Originally Posted by AngryTX

Here's a simple way to save them. Go to Kinko's and print up a bunch of posters and place them in their hometown in mejico: "STAY HOME!!"

Or we can print signs with Kennedy's home number on them.

Shanti Sells who was charged two years ago for transporting the illegals and later the charges were dropped, is still right out there with them today. Have no doubt that these enablers brainstorm to come up with covert ways to get these illegals past the Border Patrol without detection.

As it has often been stated that these enablers could have called Border Patrol, but they didn't with the full intent of aiding and abetting the free passage of these people into this country.

To call them humanitarian is a total misnomer. They don't want these people to die, but they want them to sucessfully come in. They don't want to see them sent back.

When it come to "family reunification," they want that to occur in the US and not in their home countries.