[ad_1]
Breaking News E-mails
Receive last minute alerts and special reports. News and stories that matter, broadcast in the morning on weekdays.
From Tim Stelloh
Four volunteers in humanitarian aid were found guilty of misdemeanors on Friday after leaving food and l '. water to migrants in a remote refuge in the United States and Mexico. the border in 2017.
According to the organization, four other No More Deaths volunteers will be tried next month and in March on similar charges,
A ninth volunteer, Scott Warren, also faces lodging and concealment charges after allegedly providing clean food, water, beds, and clothing to two undocumented immigrants last year. His trial is scheduled to open in May
In his ruling on Friday, US District Court Judge Bernardo Velasco said the volunteers – Natalie Hoffman, Oona Holcomb, Madeline Huse and Zaachila Orozco – had not obtained permission to enter Cabeza Prieta refuge. Wilderness Area or have followed the rules of the Ministry of the Interior during their stay.
They incur a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a fine of $ 500.
No More Death described the food and water that his volunteers let go. migrants in the 860,000-acre shelter, located west of Tucson, Arizona, to save lives.
In a press release, the group reported that 155 people have died in the area since 2001.
"This verdict not only appeals the volunteers of No More Deaths, but also the conscientious people of the country," said one of the group's volunteers, Catherine Gaffney, in a statement. "If giving water to someone who dies of thirst is illegal, what humanity remains in the law of this country?"
Last year, No More Deaths published videos showing border officers kicking and emptying jugs of water left by his volunteers. the desert. A report written in collaboration with the Coalición de Derechos Humanos documented what No More Deaths called "intentional destruction" of more than 3,000 gallons of water.
Carlos Diaz, head of the Southwest Customs and Border Protection Branch of the United States, told NBC News last year, it is advisable for agents to leave water bottles.
"If someone sees activities like those presented in the videos, he must inform us so that we can take the measures that are required because they are not acceptable." did he declare.
As punishment, the shelter's law enforcement officer could have reprimanded or forbade volunteers to leave the shelter, Velasco wrote. But in this case, they added, the ministries of the Interior and Justice allowed their prosecution.
In addition to not getting entry permits, Velasco wrote that the volunteers did not stay on designated roads and left food, water and crates. in the shelter – movements that erode the "primitive nature" of the region, he writes.
"No one in charge of No More Deaths ever informed them that their conduct could be prosecuted as a criminal defense," wrote Velasco. "The court can only speculate on what would have been the defendants' decisions had they known the real risk of their business."
]
[ad_2]
Source link
