Tucson Region

Aid workers weighing federal plea deal on transporting illegal entrants charges

Two immigrant aid workers facing federal charges of transporting illegal entrants have been offered a plea deal by the U.S. government, but they're not sure if they will accept it. The workers, Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, both 23, said they expect to make a decision by Monday. The pair had a hearing in U.S. District Court on Wednesday morning. The attorney for Sellz, William G. Walker, said an initial reading of the plea agreement appears to say the government is willing to drop all charges if Strauss and Sellz enter a court diversion program. That likely will mean they'll be under court supervision for at least one year, he said. He would not say if accepting the agreement would be an admission of guilt. Assistant U.S. Attorney Irene Feldman, who is prosecuting the case, could not be reached for comment after the hearing. Walker said the plea agreement offer shows a major weakness in the government's case. "The same government that characterized my client as a vigilante now says it will dismiss all charges," Walker said. "Clearly, the U.S. is reconsidering. I think they have discovered they made a terrible mistake. These kids are like Red Cross workers." Strauss said he does not want to admit any guilt. "I don't think either one of us wants to," he said after Wednesday's hearing. "We haven't read the agreement yet. We'll be talking to our lawyers and to people in the community." The pair are in their second summer of working with the Tucson-based No More Deaths movement, which gives food, water and medical assistance to people who illegally cross the border on foot from Mexico to the United States. Group members say their work is necessary as illegal entrants continue to perish in the desert while making the trek. Strauss and Sellz 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. Strauss and Sellz said they were taking the entrants to receive medical care for serious, heat-related illness. Border Patrol officials have described the ailments as relatively minor and said the pair should not have transported illegal entrants for any reason. No More Deaths member John Fife, the recently retired pastor of Southside Presbyterian Church, 217 W. 23rd St., said the case has some similarities to the prosecution of workers during the Sanctuary Movement during the 1980s, when churches and social justice groups helped refugees from war-torn Central America illegally immigrate into the United States. Fife received a federal conviction for his Sanctuary role. "The circumstances are familiar. In the face of people's human rights being violated by government policy, the government has chosen to try to criminalize people saving lives and providing humanitarian aid," he said. "In the Sanctuary Movement, immigration policy changed as a result of the government's blunder. I have every confidence this case will work to hasten immigration reform on the border."