Tucson Region

Entrants' helpers are freed by court

Two volunteers from an immigrant aid group who are accused of transporting illegal entrants were released from federal custody after a court appearance Monday afternoon, capping a day of protest and rallies that attracted hundreds. More than 100 No More Deaths volunteers and supporters let out a cheer and a round of applause when they heard the news: U.S. Magistrate Hector Estrada went against the federal prosecutor's recommendations to hold the two at least two more days. Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, both 23, who were arrested by Border Patrol agents on Arivaca Road on Saturday, walked out of the court smiling. Friends and relatives were waiting for them and said they were relieved. Sellz and Strauss are to appear again in U.S. District Court on Wednesday. Meanwhile, two of three migrants the volunteers had in their marked "Samaritan Patrol" car at the time of the arrests have been deported to Mexico. Another is being held in federal custody as a material witness in the case against the self-described aid workers. Each side is accusing the other of politically motivated rhetoric and shortsighted policies during a season already on pace to set a record for deaths in the desert. Giving aid to illegal entrants

Volunteers with the No More Deaths Coalition are camping in the desert near the border for a second consecutive summer, offering emergency medical aid, food and water to illegal entrants. On Saturday, the volunteers came across a group of nine migrants who said they had been walking lost for several days. Sellz and Strauss gave them food and water and cared for their blisters. "They showed human compassion to those our government degrades as less than human," said Margo Cowan, a lawyer and No More Deaths spokeswoman at a noon rally of more than 300 supporters at Southside Presbyterian Church, 317 W. 23rd St. The volunteers also called a nurse and doctor affiliated with No More Deaths about the heat-related symptoms of three men in the group. The nurse who took the call from Strauss, Helen Lundgren, said the volunteers told her the men had been drinking water from cattle tanks to survive in the hot desert. They were vomiting and had diarrhea and needed medical attention, she said. What the Border Patrol described as transporting illegal migrants, Cowan and the aid group described as medical evacuation. "We have an absolute right to provide assistance," Cowan said. "It is our moral obligation." The volunteers and the migrants were taken to the Border Patrol station near Swan and Golf Links roads, where the Border Patrol denied a No More Deaths request to treat the migrants for heat-related illness. Border Patrol agents checked the migrants, who only needed water and a cool place to sit, said Andrea Zortman, a Border Patrol spokeswoman. The migrants refused an offer of medical attention, she said. "They were not in as bad shape as the United States citizens said they were," she said. "If you feel someone is in dire straits, you need to call 911. You don't take it into your own hands." Aid groups had been in-formed that giving food and water is legal, but "once they cross the line and put them in their vehicle, they're going to get arrested," Zortman said. The Border Patrol's Tucson Sector has counted 125 deaths on the border this year, and agents have rescued more than 600 people this year, she said. But an Arizona Daily Star compilation of medical examiner reports shows nearly 150 illegal entrants have been found dead in the state's borderlands since Oct. 1, the start of the federal fiscal year. Last week alone, the bodies of 10 migrants who perished as they attempted to illegally cross the border from Mexico into the United States were discovered. "People are dying in the desert. This should not be happening," said the Rev. Stuart Taylor, with No More Deaths. "This is no time to be shutting down a humanitarian effort." Cowan said the arrests are a scare tactic against aid groups. "And we say, 'No, we won't be scared,'" Cowan said. In court Monday, a prosecutor said the volunteers were expressing their faith in a "vigilante manner" and recommended holding the two for at least two more days until the government could confirm they were not flight risks. Attorneys Bill Walker and Jeff Rogers argued holding the two was unfair and it would be "silly" for the court to wait for paperwork when it would only have to ask pretrial services workers present in court for a recommendation. Pretrial Services suggested the judge release both volunteers.