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A federal judge in Tucson is considering whether full water jugs left in the desert for illegal immigrants should be classified as litter.

Magistrate Judge Bernardo Velasco of U.S. District Court postponed a decision Friday on whether Daniel Millis, 29, is guilty of littering in Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, a federal offense, by leaving full water jugs.

Velasco listened to more than two hours of testimony Friday morning, including statements from law enforcement officers with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Millis and one of Millis' fellow volunteers with the group No More Deaths.

No More Deaths is a faith-based aid group that regularly helps illegal immigrants by offering them food, water and medical aid, saying it wants to stop the annual toll of border-crossers who die walking across Arizona's borderlands.

About 80 supporters from No More Deaths crowded the small, standing-room-only federal courtroom in Tucson for Millis' trial.

Millis' lawyer, Bill Walker, argued that Millis was acting in good faith Feb. 22 when he left the water jugs out and that he cooperated with law enforcement officers.

Walker also maintains that a full water jug intended to help save lives is not litter. Someone who finds the jug and then discards the empty container would be doing the littering, he argued.

Prosecutor Ann DeMarais said that while Millis' intentions are admirable, "the law is the law."

Millis is facing up to six months in jail and up to $5,000 in fines if found guilty. He refused to pay a $175 fine, opting for the trial instead. The federal citation for littering from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service amounts to a $150 fine and a $25 processing fee.

He was cited as he and three other volunteers with No More Deaths were placing water jugs on a trail in the refuge, which is known to be heavily traveled by migrants who illegally cross into the United States from Mexico on foot. Ironically, Millis said, he was also picking up trash while he worked.

He says he left 22 one-gallon water jugs in the desert. He said he was rattled on the day he was cited because two days earlier he had found the body of a 14-year-old El Salvador native who had died of exposure near Arivaca, in an area about five miles from the Buenos Aires refuge.

A Spanish teacher, Millis is currently on a one-year sabbatical as a full-time volunteer with No More Deaths.

Officials at the wildlife refuge said they have an enormous problem with trash, much of it caused by the illegal immigrants who regularly travel through, so it's imperative they enforce littering laws.

The refuge has a regular crew of volunteers who clean up trash — thousands of pounds left every year, including plastic water bottles, clothes, plastic food bags and abandoned vehicles.

The refuge, in the Altar Valley about 45 miles southwest of Tucson, has had as many as 2,000 illegal immigrants a day walking within its desert boundaries.

One of the biggest problems with trash in the refuge is its impact on wildlife, which can end up choking on plastic from the jugs, refuge officials said. Cattle and other animals can ingest the bottles and die. Other animals have cut themselves on lids from tin cans and other pieces of trash left in the refuge, officials said.

The Tucson group Humane Borders has special-use permits to have two of its 65-gallon water tanks, which are intended for illegal immigrants to use, on refuge property. A third water station is on a piece of county property in the refuge area.