Arizona Man Arrested for "Trying to Save Lives"
The Arizona Daily Star reports that a 27 year old man named Walt Staton from Tucson, Arizona could be sentenced to up to a year in prison and a $10,000 fine after being convicted of littering on federal land. His litter: containers of water. The criminal act: leaving water in the Sonoran Desert for illegal immigrants. The Sonoran Desert in the Southwestern part of the United States is a beautiful and unique ecosystem, admired by visitors for its fantastic rock formations, 'sky island' mountain ranges, and distinctive saguaro cacti. But the Sonoran Desert is also unforgiving and brutal; without water, a human in the Southwest desert will die within a few days.
Staton is a volunteer with the Tucson non profit group No More Deaths. Founded in 2004 by Tucson religious leaders and social activists to combat what they deemed "a morally intolerable situation," the organization's main goal is to save lives by providing assistance to migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert, including food and medical help, but mostly water. Their simple motto, "Humanitarian Aid Is Never a Crime," reflects the ongoing struggle between the organization and law enforcement officials; the 'news' section of their website consists mostly of accounts of arrests of organization volunteers. Walt Staton is now part of a lengthy and growing list of No More Death volunteers fined, charged, and convicted of a crime: current press releases discuss the conviction of volunteer Dan Mills in March and fines imposed on two more volunteers last December, all for dropping unopened containers of water in the desert. But Staton's attorney, William Walker, was still shocked at the verdict. In the Daily Star article, Walker decried both the cost and the reasoning behind the trial and conviction, saying in part, "This trial must have cost the government more than $50,000. They say there aren't enough agents on the border...and then they spend all of this time and money prosecuting a humanitarian who is putting out water to save lives."
Among politicians, immigration is still a hot-button topic. Republicans and Democrats discuss reforming and changing U.S. immigration policy with little or no agreement on how, even within their own parties. No More Deaths has a more acute concern: while the discussion continues, people are dying. As I reported in April 2009 for Huffington Post (The Consequences of a Wall: More Deaths Along AZ Border) even as illegal border crossing numbers go down, the number of those who die trying to cross the border is rising. Border walls and increased security measures have driven the desperate deeper and deeper into the desert. The terrain is rougher, they walk longer, more die. And the death is horrible: in 1909, a scientist named W. G. McGee penned a graphic description of what happens to the human body deprived of water in the harsh Southwestern desert. In a biography of McGee written by his sister Emma, the long description of a man found dying in the desert begins with the statement: "There is no death more cruel than that of the 'desert thirst,'" and continues with descriptions of the effect of dehydration and the desert sun on muscles ("Strong arms and legs were shrunken to the bone"), skin ("His flesh was dry and black'), and parts of his body ("His tongue was shriveled to a mere bunch of tegument, very black"). This is what drives Walt Staton and other volunteers to continue to 'litter' the desert. As quoted in the Daily Star article, Staton said: "I was just trying to save lives. I was trying to end the death and suffering in the desert."
A small box in the upper corner of the No More Deaths website keeps a running count of the number of migrants found dead in the state of Arizona, a stark reminder of the organization's reason for existence. Today the number reads 79. This resident of the desert wonders how many of those human beings would have been spared so terrible a death if humanitarian aid was not deemed a crime by a court of law.
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As a young person I witnessed some very disgusting, hate-filled behaviour in Arizona. Some of them, even many of them, are very hateful people.
If one of the self-appointed border patrol watchers were treated like this, the politicians and people of Arizona would be in an uprising protesting it. There would be campaigns organised to protest the unfair treatment of a 'good American.'
If someone does something to save the life of an illegal immigrant, they find a way to punish them. My memories of the average Joes in Arizona are not good ones.
There's all kinds of folks all over.
Where is the right to life club on this one?
Their brains aren't big enough to see the hypocrisy.
You see, we are not a Christian nation..th
Border Patrol knows exactly where the immigrant and drug trafficker trails are. Even I know where they are as a hiker in the desert. One trail through the Huachuca Mountains leads right past Fort Huachuca the home of the Army Intelligence Center.
It's obvious to us residents of Southern Arizona that the Border Patrol lets them through certain areas on purpose.
That being said, giving or leaving water for someone (anyone) who is lost in the desert and dying of thirst is the decent thing to do. Sure the immigrants shouldn't be there in the first place, but letting people die is unconscionable.
I have helped Humane Borders fill water barrels and it's mind boggling to sometimes shot up by locals. What kind of sick fool do you have to be to do that?
So much for conservative's claims of being "pro life".
If Americans stop employing illegal immigrants, we won't have these problems.
But American corporatists WANT cheap labor.
It ain't just "corporatists".
What happens to the migrants after they stop at an aid station? Under the Projects > Desert Aid > History & Mission, there's mention of a "trek to the Border Patrol HQ in Tucson" but that may have been part of a media coverage event, its not very explicit.
I laud the attempts of the aid, but if they're not ultimately helping Border Patrol by turning migrants over to them or escorting them back to the border themselves with education on lawful methods of entry then they're aiding and abetting. If they're communicating with the coyotes to get them to send their "payload" up certain trails because that's where aid stations are, but not coordinating with Border Patrol for pick-up, that's even more collusive aiding and abetting. Secondly, if these ark sites that they've set up are well known and well frequented, then with or without No More Deaths' partnering, Border Patrol should be monitoring those trails actively if not already.
That said, this particular sentence seems excessive and bad PR. Dead illegals or martyring a good man?
This reminds me of the cities where they have made it a crime for someone to put a quarter in a strangers parking meter to prevent their getting a ticket.
capitalism - where the greatest crime imaginable is compassion
Just another case of conservative's war on morality.
"This reminds me of the cities where they have made it a crime for someone to put a quarter in a strangers parking meter to prevent their getting a ticket."
You cannot be serious!!!
Since he placed items in the desert that he had no intention of picking up (as evidenced by the tons of garbage out there) then the charge of littering fits though the punishment seems excessive for that crime. However; for the crime of accesory to illegal immigration the punishment seems fitting.
It's not quite accurate to say he had "no intention of picking up" the bottles he deposited. No More Deaths returns about once a week to their water bottle drop sites and picks up empty bottles, as well as tons of other trash. Their net environmental impact is very positive.
No More Deaths is not in any way a smuggling organization; they do not provide "accesory (sic) to illegal immigratio
I fear the day that I would ever become so jaded and cynical that I would support jailing someone who leaves water out to save peoples lives.
This case should have been immediately dismissed when it became clear that Mr. Staton was leaving the water out as a humanitarian action. This is the first time I have read anything about the issue of migrant deaths -- how deeply tragic. This deserves a lot more publicity than it is currently getting, and my thoughts are with those lifesavers who work with No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes.
The one thing I would say, however, is that the legal issue at hand is littering. Does NMD have a system for checking when containers are empty and removing them? Are the containers biodegradable? The issue is the effect of littering on the environment, which is not negated by the noble purpose of the litter. They should be aware of their responsibilities to the precious desert ecosystem.
On the other hand, the litter left in the desert is caused by humans, and natural. Our ancestors left litter in these same deserts, and we call them relics. food for thought.
Another point of view:
Border towns encourage illegals to cross into the US giving them maps etc.
They should be discouraged just because of the lack of water danger.
We don't get the help we need from Mexico with this chronic problem.
Try going out into our Sonoran Desert one weekend and voluneer to pick up the TONS OF TRASH, water bottles, clothes etc. left as litter.
YES, LITERALLY TONS OF TRASH - IT'S A DISGUSTING EXPERIENCE.
To me, this just seems to be another iteration of the "pro-torture" movement. There's outrage when a semi-truck with no ventilation, sanitation or water is found filled with dead undocumented immigrants--such outrage tends to be directed at the non-U.S. citizens who exploit those immigrants' desire to get a leg up in life by charging outrageous fees to surreptitious passage into the U.S.
But a U.S. citizen, aiming to simply slake the thirst of a fellow human being gets prosecuted and fined? And the outrage is that he deigned to provide a water source in the desert?
It's torture. It's inhumane. It's frankly, embarrassing.
With all due respect, to me, you're completely off-base. It's one thing when we capture someone, ship them to gitmo, and then apply harsh interrogation techniques. It's quite another when someone voluntarily puts themselves into a precarious situation, illegally, to complete an illegal task.
the complete disregard for human life, worth, and dignity is the same in both situations. I agree with Just Margaret.
And it wasn't "harsh interrogation techniques" being used at Gitmo. It was torture. Playing semantic games is part of the process that lets people stop viewing other people as human beings with inalienable rights. It is part of the process that lets people believe, even for a second, that a guy who leaves water in a desert to help dying people is somehow guilty of a crime.
As a Floridian, I have seen what the yearly influx of illegal immigration has done to this state. I'm not going to go into detail about the disaster that has become Florida. I am ready for an end to this mess.
This does not change the fact that these are human beings who are desperate for a better way, and in trying to attain that better way, they sneak away in the middle of the night with all possessions on their backs carrying their children and willing to trek through inhumane conditions - all because their government is not humane.
Walt Staton is not sneaking these people across the border. He is not promising them sanctuary or a home. The man is offering these poor people some WATER.
I hope the day never comes when I am so cynical and bitter that I cannot offer a human being a bottle of water. Shame on those that have.
The solution is actually quite simple and easy, and yet it will never happen. WHY are these people coming to America? Because they can get jobs. If you were to look at the people that are EMPLOYING these people, and just DESTROY any company found hiring illegals more than once, very quickly the rest of the companies would fall in line, stop hiring illegals, and they would stop coming here!!
Thanks for your balanced view. It's rare to hear anyone decry illegal immigration but express compassion for the people involved. I wish your attitude would filter up to our country's law and policy makers.
The guy was NOT offering somebody some water. He was putting caches out for people to violate our laws. If he wanted to camp out in the desert and pass out the water bottles, there would be NO prosecution. He doesn't want to go to that trouble though. He simply wants to make his own laws and regs as HE sees fit and to fit HIS ideas. He basically says to the American people, SCREW YOU and your democracy.
Saint Staton the Arizona Bodhisattva shall dwell in peace something the Judge will never see.
Aiding and abetting or accomplice are the legal terms that come to mind. Whether you agree with the law or not... Too bad, its still the law. The attitude that we are now responsible to aid them in committing a crime that they choose to commit? If you dont wanna die of thirst in the desert? Stay on your side of the border.
If i cant get a job in Minnesota and I chose to walk across the Canadian border illegally in the winter time and freeze to death I expect that you will hold the Canadian government responsible for that too.
Be sure not to thank the human being that left the heater out in the wilderness that kept you alive so you could send money home to feed your starving children and free your wife and 8 year old daughter from the repeated rapes of the police in your country.
So you are saying that ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS have starving children and their wives are enslaved and their daughters are being raped? Oh Please! I this is true then you need to go to their countries and hold those governments responsible. Get to getting!
This is about a humane provision of life-saving water, not 'aiding and abetting' a criminal.
Inmates in jail get water--and they broke the law too. I'm not suggesting we install water fountains every 200 yards, but seriously, have a heart, man!
Border towns encourage illegals to cross into the US giving them maps etc.
They should be discouraged just because of the lack of water danger.
We don't get the help we need from Mexico with this chronic problem.
Try going out into our Sonoran Desert one weekend and voluneer to pick up the TONS OF TRASH, water bottles, clothes etc. left as litter.
YES, LITERALLY TONS OF TRASH - IT'S A DISGUSTING EXPERIENCE.
It once was illegal in Germany to consort with Jews, to employ them for many jobs, or to protest discrimination against them. Using your logic, I suppose you would've gone along with that too.
At present the Canadian government , even with Stephen Harper, hasn't arrested and prosecuted anybody for creating winter shelters for 'merkins fleeing to Canada. A guy places water bottles to prevent people from dying of thirst in the desert - goes to pick up the empties and is criminally charged. Perhaps in the neocon world of the law is the law it makes sense - but to everyone else on the planet it looks incredibly stupid and vengeful.
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