BORDER POLITICS

Drama in the Desert

By Amy Brouillette, 7-11-05

U.S. Border Patrol agents this weekend arrested two Colorado College students found transporting three illegal immigrants in their vehicle near Tucson, Ariz. The students, volunteers for a humanitarian-aid group called No More Deaths, were intercepted by border agents while delivering the immigrants, who they claim were suffering from severe dehydration after wandering for days in the desert, to doctors at a nearby facility.

Daniel Strauss and Shanti Shellz, both 23, were arraigned in federal court this afternoon, charged with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, a felony that carries a maximum five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. The students volunteer for NMD, one of a handful of human rights groups now set up in camps along Arizona-Mexico border—their aim: to provide medical assistance and humanitarian aid to migrant workers who make the increasingly dangerous desert crossing that claims thousands of lives each year. The area has recently become a battleground for citizen groups on both sides of a highly charged illegal immigration debate; most notably, is the anti-immigration Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a group that has taken to the desert on armed patrol for Mexican nationals illegally navigating across the border.

According to John Fife, a member of NMD, on Saturday morning volunteers encountered nine migrant workers traveling through the desert near the group’s camp in Aribaca, Ariz. They successfully treated six with basic first aid and water, but three others were “in serious medical distress,� vomiting and defecating uncontrollably. They called ahead to doctors who volunteer for the NMD, who said the workers needed immediate medical attention.

“It is totally outrageous,� Fife told New West via cell phone this afternoon, as he waited outside the Tucson court while the two volunteers were arraigned. “They were trying to prevent human death and suffering—and for that, they get arrested?�

According to border patrol officials, however, the group should have called the appropriate authorities (i.e. border patrol) rather than transport the illegal immigrants themselves. “They drove right past border agents,� said Gustavo Soto, spokesperson for U.S. Border Patrol in Tucson, who also spoke to New West via telephone late today. “We are the best source for medical care. They could have also called 9-1-1 and informed them there were people in medical distress and they would have responded immediately.�

Soto added that the three illegal immigrants weren't so bad off, “just a little thirsty.� He said the three are being held in custody as material witnesses in the case against the two students, and will later be deported. The two Colorado students are scheduled to appear for a hearing Wednesday. The case is now in the hands of the U.S. Attorney.

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