Scott Warren's trial to help migrants with the band "No More Deaths" ends with a suspended jury

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for harboring and conspiring to transport undocumented immigrants.

At his trial, which began last month, a federal jury met in Tucson with two different versions of the accused. Had he acted with "basic human kindness", providing only what was necessary to enable migrants to survive, as his lawyer said? Or had he helped and encouraged those who did not care about the country's immigration laws? Among the migrants he assisted, "they were not injured," said a federal prosecutor, according to the Associated Press. "They were not sick. They did not rest and did not recover.

Deciding who Warren is and what he has done has proved to be a tedious task for the jurors, who said on Tuesday that they were stuck in their deliberations and could not result in a unanimous verdict.

The judge, Raner C. Collins, dismissed them and scheduled a hearing on the status of the case on July 2. The US Attorney's Office in Arizona did not immediately indicate whether he would apply for another trial.

Speaking to reporters in front of the courthouse, Warren called on Americans to tie their guns to immigrants, a stance that, according to activists, is being criminalized as part of the deal. Uncompromising approach by the Trump administration in border control. The geography instructor is one of many members of the "More Dead" group who do not have the courage to enforce the law for trying to help migrants. He is however the first to be charged with criminal charges.

Since his arrest, Warren said, "at least 88 bodies have been found in the Ajo corridor of the Arizona desert." , kindness and solidarity. "

Thousands of migrants have perished in the desert region since President Bill Clinton's 1994 Border Patrol Strategy, known as "deterrence prevention," closed down major urban gateways and displaced displacement. to more dangerous places.

No More Deaths appeared in 2004 in the form of a coalition of community and faith-based groups dedicated to protecting migrants from the harsh conditions in the desert. Since 2008, it is an official ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson. According to the group, its goal is to "defend fundamental human rights".

In addition to leaving water, food, socks, blankets and other supplies in the remote corners of the Arizona deserts, No More Deaths also seeks to "document the abuses. , neglect and mistreatment of detainees in short-term custody, as well as in the immigration-detention system. Six migrant children have died since December after being detained by federal authorities.

The group operates from a small building in Ajo called "the barn", located about 35 km from the border. Federal agents began monitoring headquarters in January 2018, according to court documents.

A few days before the start of surveillance, the two migrants – Kristian Perez Villanueva (El Salvador) and Jose Sacaria Goday (Honduras) – had crossed the border near the Mexican city of Sonoyta, they said in a statement. They traveled the desert on foot to reach a service station where a stranger suggested they drive them more easily. The authorities identified the driver as Irineo Mujica, director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, a migrant rights group that organized caravans from Central America to the United States. Mujica was arrested last week in Mexico, as part of an initiative that, according to his organization, is an attempt by the Mexican government to appease Trump.

Mujica took them to the barn, according to court records. There was no one on the scene, but both men managed to make their way to a bathroom on the site. When Warren discovered them about 40 minutes later, the men declared that they were cold and tired and were asking for food and water, as well as a place of rest, as indicated in the lawsuits. -verbaux. Warren provided this assistance and, according to defense counsel, he never hid the men nor encouraged them to make an illegal entry.

During the monitoring of the site, officers saw Warren standing outside the barn, seemingly giving instructions to the migrants, although the authorities acknowledged that they could not hear what he was saying . Agents approached the building. Warren told them to leave, but they determined that the two migrants who had spoken with the aid worker were illegally in the country, according to court documents, and arrested the three men.

The judge dismissed the preliminary motions of Warren's defense lawyer, Gregory J. Kuykendall, to dismiss the charges. Kuykendall argued that the arrest of his client constituted a selective application of the law, based on "discriminatory retaliation", in violation of the right to equal protection guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. He observed that border patrol officials arrested the No More Deaths volunteer on the same day that the group of activists had issued a report criticizing the agency, which included "a video clip of". agents behaving cruelly and unprofessionally ".

Kuykendall also failed to convince the court that prosecution would compromise his client's religious freedom – adherence to Christian principles would require him to "provide emergency assistance to needy human beings."

The government replied that its actions had neither discriminatory intent nor impact. Instead, US lawyers have argued that the procedure was simply to enforce the criminal law.

The law enforcement on accommodation was strengthened in 2017 under the leadership of the then Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, who ordered federal prosecutors to give priority to "any case involving illegal transportation or illegal accommodation of foreigners ".

Niels W. Frenzen, director of the Immigration Clinic at the Gould School of Law of the University of Southern California, said the Sessions directive had highlighted the conflict between the application from immigration and a sanctuary movement dating back to the 1980s. While maintaining a spiritual element, the movement became more political and less religious, he noted, especially since Trump administration traces dark battle lines on immigration.

The trial of the 36-year-old activist sparked protests in court. A petition has circulated.

The case has also attracted worldwide attention as United Nations human rights experts have called on the US authorities to drop the charges.

"Providing humanitarian aid is not a crime," US officials said, pointing to the dangers of Arizona's migrant corridors, which account for more than a third of the 7,000 border deaths recorded in the past 20 years. last years.

The struggle has parallels in other Western countries, where the tension between nativism and the humanitarian obligation has become equally acute.

Last year, the highest constitutional court in France ruled that an olive grower did not commit any crime when he smuggled dozens of migrants into the country – a more provocative behavior than the one taken by Warren's lawyer.

The dissenting farmer was protected, according to the court, by the "principle of fraternity" enshrined in the French constitution. The findings overturned the judgment of a lower court that had sentenced him to pay a fine of more than $ 3,000.

However, other European states are pursuing criminal prosecutions against those who strive to protect migrants. Pia Klemp, a German boat captain, said last week in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung that she was preparing to stand trial in Italy for rescuing asylum seekers in the Mediterranean . More than 80,000 people signed an online petition calling on Italy to drop lawsuits against her and other crew members.

In the United States, most courts require the government to establish an element of intent in proceedings under the Housing Act, Frenzen said. In addition to the technical acts of sheltering, he said, an accused must generally "try affirmatively to prevent officials from detecting migrants."

At least one juror may not have been convinced that the prosecution had proved this element of his case, thwarting a unanimous verdict, the law professor said.

He also admitted that it was "entirely possible" that the decision not to convict stems from "the cancellation of a jury", when the jurors feel that an accused is guilty but refuse to make such a verdict, deciding that the underlying law is unfair.