Tucson Region

2 immigrant aid workers say fellow detainees lived in filth

The experience of being arrested and held in what they say were inhumane conditions while in federal custody has strengthened the resolve of two local immigrant aid workers, who spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday. Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz, both 23, were released from custody Monday, two days after they were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol when an agent stopped their vehicle and found three illegal entrants inside. The pair said they were taking the entrants to receive medical care. Both face federal charges for transporting illegal entrants. "Groups like ours absolutely have to stay out there and stay strong," Sellz said in an interview Tuesday evening. "The U.S. Border Patrol is not humanitarian. It does not have a humanitarian agenda, policy or protocol. This experience has absolutely validated our commitment to what we're doing." The U.S. Border Patrol says the pair should not have transported illegal entrants and denies volunteers' accusations of mistreatment in their facilities. The two volunteers, in their second summer of working with the Tucson-based No More Deaths movement, were scheduled to appear in federal court at 10:30 a.m. today. Immediately after their arrest, Sellz said, the pair spent hours in a processing station hungry and cold. While she was at the Border Patrol's detention facility at 1970 W. Ajo Way, Sellz said people were sharing filthy blankets in cold cells, and she could not get a toothbrush or toothpaste. She said detainees who had been walking for days in the hot desert were crammed into small facilities without the opportunity to shower. "This is just going to strengthen everyone's resolve. The Border Patrol is not in the business of saving lives," said Strauss, who says he was in a cell with no toilet paper and that some of the detainees were using blankets as a substitute. Sellz and Strauss are part of an immigrant aid group that gives food, water and medical assistance to people who illegally cross the border on foot from Mexico to the United States. The group says their work is necessary at a time when illegal entrants continue to perish in the desert while making the trek. The pair are being represented by Tucson attorneys Jeff Rogers and William Walker, who say their clients did nothing illegal in seeking medical treatment for the three migrants, whom they described as suffering from serious, heat-related illness. The Border Patrol has described the ailments as relatively minor. Gustavo Soto, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, said detainees are treated humanely and regularly given food, water and other amenities. He said Strauss and Sellz were offered food and did not take it. "We made every effort to make sure, as with other detainees, that they received the necessary amenities," Soto said. "We believe they are entitled to necessary services. There are showers." The Border Patrol's detention facility at 1970 W. Ajo Way has no showers.