wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] U.S. magistrate won't dismiss charges against border

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

Note #9068 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

06016
Jan. 13, 2006

U.S. magistrate won't dismiss
charges against border activists

Presbyterians among groups supporting 
2 accused of immigrant-smuggling 

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - A federal magistrate in Arizona has refused to dismiss
immigrant-smuggling charges against two volunteers in a church-backed
humanitarian group.

	U.S. Magistrate Bernardo P. Velasco on Thursday denied a request for
a dismissal from attorneys for Shanti A. Sellz, 23, and Daniel M. Strauss,
24.

	Defense attorneys and prosecutors have 10 days to submit written
objections or recommendations for consideration by U.S. District Judge Raner
Collins, who will decide whether the accused, members of the aid group No
More Deaths, should be tried.

	The group is led and supported by Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
members and congregations, among them Southside Presbyterian Church in
Tucson, AZ.

	Sellz and Strauss, who are not Presbyterians, were caught on July 9
by the U.S. Border Patrol while transporting three illegal entrants from the
Arivaca, AZ, border area to Tucson for medical treatment.

	The aid workers said they followed the protocol recommended by No
More Deaths by calling a doctor before deciding to take the men to Tucson. 

	Federal prosecutors say the entrants weren't in dire need of medical
aid, and that Sellz and Strauss were unlawfully aiding their illegal entry
into the United States.

	No More Deaths said in a statement Thursday, "We are confident that
we will prevail at trial, and we are calling on our community to come
together to support Shanti and Daniel and the principle that humanitarian aid
is never a crime."

	Presbyterian 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 basic medical care to illegal immigrants crossing
from Mexico into the United States through Arizona's treacherous desert
borderlands. 

	Defense attorneys argue that the No More Deaths protocol is in
keeping with federal law, which says it is illegal to assist "in furtherance"
of someone's illegal entry. They said No More Deaths had made 68 "medical
evacuations" between Oct. 1, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2005, and the Border Patrol
was aware of them. 

	Sellz and Strauss were en route to Southside Presbyterian Church when
they were arrested.

	Velasco said rendering aid in the desert is different from
transporting illegal immigrants to a metropolitan area and releasing them.

	"The issue, therefore, is whether the illegal aliens treated at
Southside Presbyterian Church and thereafter allowed to melt into Tucson,
Arizona, have been assisted 'in furtherance' of their illegal entry," Velasco
wrote. "The answer is yes."

	In response to the arrests of Sellz and Strauss, No More Deaths
launched a campaign it calls "Humanitarian Aid is Never a Crime." More than
30,000 petitions have been sent to U.S. prosecutor Paul Charlton, asking him
to drop the charges. More than 7,000 yard signs have been distributed in
southern Arizona, and the group has hosted several press conferences in which
community leaders and groups have voiced support. 

	More than 2,000 individuals and organizations have endorsed the
campaign, including Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties
Union, and Rick Ufford-Chase, moderator of the 216th General Assembly of the
PC(USA), a founding member of No More Deaths.

	The 261-mile-long stretch of border in the Tucson sector is the
nation's main corridor for illegal immigrants entering the United States. A
sharp spike in deaths there in recent years has raised the concern of the
PC(USA). In 2003, the denomination's 215th General Assembly approved an
overture calling for measures to prevent migrant-worker deaths in the
borderlands.

     The measure, submitted by the Presbytery de Cristo, which represents 30
Presbyterian churches in southern Arizona and western New Mexico, calls on
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) to be in relationship with
congregations and middle governing bodies in border areas to help migrants in
life-threatening situations.

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