Thread: Late breaking news!

The long awaited Federal case that was to take place in Tucson, Shanti Sells and Daniel Strauss, who were caught illegally transporting illegal aliens to Tucson for "medical treatment" and originally faced 2 felony charges which was whittled down to one, have now had their charges dismissed by Judge Rainer Collins. Was this due to all the pressure put on him by the Open Borders Lobby? The reason is yet unknown. This is not good news.

To refresh your memories about these two, here's an article from the "communist" Peoples Weekly World, praising their accomplishments. By the way, all the protests this weekend are again sponsored by these communist groups like "Answer."



TUCSON, Ariz. — Supporters of immigrant rights here conducted an eight-mile pilgrimage from Tucson to San Xavier Mission on the Tohono O’Odahm Indian Reservation to observe the Mexican traditional Día de los Muertos and to mourn and honor the known deaths of 282 migrants in the Tucson desert in 2005.

The Nov. 5 march was sponsored by Derechos Humanos, an immigrant rights group. Judith Le Blanc, a national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice and a member of the Caddo tribe of Oklahoma, joined scores of others in the action.

It is common knowledge that the death toll for migrants dying of dehydration, snake bites, falls, and homicides by marauding thieves numbers far greater, but the bones of the dead are soon scattered by animals. Many bodies are never found, and family members never learn fate of their loved ones whose harsh trek north in search of work ended in death.

No More Deaths, a Tucson-based humanitarian group, is running a vigorous campaign to fight charges brought against two volunteers, Shanti Sells and Daniel Strauss, who were detained by the U.S. Border Patrol last summer on their way to the hospital as they medically evacuated three migrants in distress. The three migrants were showing signs of severe dehydration — continuous vomiting, diarrhea, etc. — and had been lost in the desert without food or water for several days.

“Humanitarian Aid is Never Illegal” signs are proudly displayed in shops and yards all over Tucson and the community is sending thousands of signed postcards and flooding the U.S. attorney’s office with phone calls demanding the charges be dropped against the two volunteers. The two face court proceedings Dec. 20 and face a possible 15 years in jail and $250,000 in fines for doing what any of us would do: trying to save the lives of people dying in the desert. Who would ask for “papers” in this situation? What kind of society are we?

Supporters of the two have appealed for others to call or write U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton to demand that charges against Shanti Sells and Daniel Strauss be dropped immediately. The phone is (620) 514-7192; the address is U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton, District of Arizona, Two Renaissance Square, 40 N. Central, Suite #1200, Phoenix AZ 85004-4408. Let him know the whole world is watching.

The two face court proceedings Dec. 20 and face a possible 15 years in jail and $250,000 in fines for doing what any of us would do: trying to save the lives of people dying in the desert. Who would ask for “papers” in this situation? What kind of society are we?

The article says nothing about these guys stopping border patrol to turn the illegal aliens over, it also doesn't say anything about them attempting to stop border patrol or that they attempted to notify them of the situation - the article says border patrol stopped them. This is just another case of accepting ignorance as an excuse for breaking the law. I guess the old saying, ignorance is no excuse no longer applies to the breaking of laws. Why didn't the judge dismiss the charges against Campeon and Ramos, weren't they just attempting to apprehend a suspected criminal, which by the way ended up being a drug runner (serious felony)? This double standard is getting very disturbing.

2 arrested for aiding migrants cleared

Published: 09.02.2006
2 arrested for aiding migrants cleared
Government led students Sellz, Strauss to believe helping them was acceptable, judge rules
BILLIE STANTON
Tucson Citizen
In a dramatic ruling Friday, the year-long case against humanitarians Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss was dismissed.
U.S. District Judge Raner Collins found that the government for years has led No More Deaths volunteers to believe they could legally provide care to ailing illegal immigrants.
Sellz and Strauss could not be prosecuted for what had been deemed legal, Collins found.
The college students were in the desert near Arivaca on July 9, 2005, when they encountered five illegal immigrants.
Before they could reach Tucson, Border Patrol agents arrested them and apprehended the two men.
Sellz and Strauss willingly faced an uncertain future, refusing from the outset to accept a plea agreement.
"We have committed no crime," Strauss said on July 21, 2005.
On Friday, Collins agreed.
"The judge recognized that Samaritans (a group that is part of No More Deaths) really is a humanitarian organization," said Bill Walker, who joined Stanley Feldman, a former chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, to defend Sellz free of charge.
"What the judge said is, No More Deaths isn't an organization smuggling immigrants.
"That's a great victory for everybody in Tucson and on the border who wants to make sure people don't die in the desert."
The Rev. John Fife, founder of Samaritans, rejoiced. "This is vindication for our position from the very beginning. And that is, humanitarian aid is never a crime," he said.
Signs spouting that slogan had sprung up around the Tucson area as supporters of the humanitarian movement feared for Sellz and Strauss.
U.S. Magistrate Bernardo P. Velasco recently declined to dismiss the case, but Collins overruled him.
Fife said the ruling sends a clear, ethical message to the people of southern Arizona that food, water and emergency medical care can be provided to anyone in distress.
"In my judgment, that means lives will be saved," said Fife.
The Green Valley Samaritans had held a memorial service Thursday for a migrant they had found dead in the desert.
Alfonso Salas Villagran had died from a combination of heart disease and heat exposure, the Pima County medical examiner found.
"I was at the No More Deaths camp when the folks from Green Valley found the body," Fife said.
"We hear all kinds of ways people try to dehumanize these folks, calling them 'aliens,' 'illegals.' This death puts a human face on this issue."
Sellz, Strauss and federal prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/24911.php

"Two of the men showed signs of severe dehydration, so Sellz and Strauss called physicians in Tucson and were advised to rush the men to a hospital."

This is total bull. At the time this occurred, they were going to drive them to Rev. Fife's Southside Presbyterian Church for their so called health care, where they said they had a nurse, not a doctor standing by. Their intent after that was to let them free into the city. They had apparently been getting away with this "protocol" for some time at this point. You can see how a year later they've SPUN their intents into something different than what actually happened and the judge fell to their pressure!

Their intent after that was to let them free into the city.

Regardless of what the judge said, these folks were being smuggled into the country. Even if the two men would have taken them to the hospital, the hospital is not obligated to ask their immigration status, which means they would have been released and free to go anywhere they pleased after treatment. I'm starting to wonder if many of these so-called judges (district and federal) are receiving pressure from the federal government, specifically Attorney General Gonzales?

'No More Deaths' worker says she'd do it again
Sep 3, 2006 05:41 AM MST


Now to the controversial story surrounding a pair of volunteers with the group, "No More Deaths."

Last summer, Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss were accused of transporting three illegal immigrants into the United States.

Sellz and Strauss claimed that they were helping the migrants get medical care, but Border Patrol officials believe they were helping the immigrants enter the country illegally.

Now, all charges against the two have been dismissed.

A district judge says Sellz and Strauss were following the same guidelines that border volunteers had been using for years without getting arrested.

On Saturday, Sellz broke her silence and talked only to News 4's Erica Heartquist.

------

News 4 caught up with Shanti Sellz just hours after she heard the news that all charges against her were dropped.

She told News 4 that although this past year has been a trying experience, she'd do it all over again if it meant saving a life.

"You know, it's still sinking in," said Sellz with a sigh.

Still sinking in that Sellz and friend Daniel Strauss are no longer facing up to 15 years in prison in the high profile case that up until Friday was going to trial.

Sellz says it's been a rough year, "It's humiliating and it makes you, it puts you in a place to feel bad and no matter how Daniel and I both have very strong convictions and we know that we have never committed a crime and that our actions will never be illegal and can never be illegal."

Attorneys for Sellz and Strauss had asked twice that the charges be dismissed.

"I can summarize the decision very briefly. It is simply that the government having permitting this, and I'm paraphrasing now, having lead them to believe that what they were doing was not illegal and would not violate the law- can not then all of a sudden change its position and prosecute them for doing that which the government said they could do," said Sellz's attorney, Stanley Feldman.

The pair was volunteering with "No More Deaths," providing food, water, and medical aid to illegal entrants walking in the desert.

Sellz says her actions that day were solely humanitarian, "By the point that we found them- they were so physically ill and so dehydrated that the only thing that could be done was to take them to a hospital."

Sellz says while the judge's decision to dismiss the charges at the Federal Courthouse, Friday is certainly a start, she says it doesn't set the precedence she was hoping for.

We tried unsuccessfully to reach the prosecutor in this case.

Jesus Rodriguez with the U.S. Border Patrol had this to say, "Transport people illegally in the country. If we catch them- we're going to still continue doing what our job is and that is- if we have to, we'll arrest them and send them to hopefully get prosecuted."

According to court documents, prosecutors asked the judge not to dismiss the charges against the pair saying that "No More Deaths" representatives had been told prior to their arrest that enforcement action would be taken if a volunteer were to transport illegals.
http://kvoa.com/global/story.asp?s=5360 ... =Printable