wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] 2 desert activists indicted for transporting illegals

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8852 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05427
August 19, 2005

2 desert activists indicted 
for transporting illegals

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - A federal grand jury has indicted two border-ministry activists
arrested last month with three illegal immigrants in their vehicle. 
 
	Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol
agents on July 9, about 25 miles from the Mexico-Arizona border. 
 
	Strauss and Sellz are volunteers with a group called No More Deaths.
They were charged under a federal statute making it a crime to transport
illegal immigrants. 

	"We stand behind them and support them in any way we can," the Rev.
John C. Matthew, a retired Presbyterian minister and No More Deaths
volunteer, said after the indictments were issued on Aug. 3. "The government
has made a misstep in even having this trial."

	Presbyterian church leaders in Arizona were instrumental in helping
form the Tucson-based No More Deaths movement. For the past two summers, the
group has provided food, water and medical care to illegal immigrants
crossing into the United States through Arizona's treacherous desert
borderlands.

	The coalition receives strong leadership and support from
Presbyterians and from congregations such as Southside Presbyterian Church in
Tucson, which provides medical care to undocumented migrants injured in the
desert

	Strauss and Sellz, who are not Presbyterians, told the agents they
were taking the men to Southside for treatment because they were vomiting and
suffering from bloody diarrhea. Border Patrol officials have said the men
were not ill and were refused medical aid once in custody. 
 
	According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Strauss
and Sellz were indicted on one count each of transporting an illegal alien
and conspiracy to transport an illegal alien. 
 
	Strauss, who is from New York, and Sellz, who is from Colorado and
New Mexico, were arraigned Aug. 11. 

	A trial is scheduled to start in early October, but may not begin
until November or December, according to a statement posted on the No More
Deaths Web site.
 
	The conspiracy charge carries a 10-year maximum sentence; the
transporting charge carries a five-year maximum sentence.

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