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Last week, a federal trial opened in Phoenix against activist Scott Warren, who faces up to twenty years in prison for felony counts of “harboring” undocumented immigrants by providing humanitarian aid to migrants crossing the Arizona desert. Warren is one of several volunteers affiliated with the group No More Deaths/No Más Muertes (English/Español) to have been targeted for prosecution in recent years. Warren was arrested in early 2018, shortly after helping to publicize a video of Border Patrol agents sabotaging water left for migrants in the desert. Many observers consider the arrest to be politically motivated.
No Más Muertes has several action alert ideas to raise awareness of the trial on their webpage. Click through the link below and choose one that works for you. If you choose social media, feel free to tag us at @MyCivicWorkout so we can see how hard you are working.
Filmmaker Laura Saunders of The Intercept created a nine-minute video about the work of humanitarian volunteers on the US/Mexico border. Watch “Let Them Have Water” at the link below, and then consider sharing with your friends and family.
While our focus today has been on the trial of those providing humanitarian assistance to migrants, we can’t take our eye off the larger struggle. As part of the #DefundHate Campaign, Indivisible is working with members of Congress to cut the budget for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (Customs and Border Patrol), whose funding has soared under Trump and the previous Republican Congress. Check out the link below for a script, and call your House member and ask them to sign on.
Just before his trial began, Scott Warren authored an op-ed in the Washington Post talking about what motivates him and others in No Más Muertes
In Ajo, my community has provided food and water to those traveling through the desert for decades — for generations. Whatever happens with my trial, the next day, someone will walk in from the desert and knock on someone’s door, and the person who answers will respond to the needs of that traveler. If they are thirsty, we will offer them water; we will not ask for documents beforehand. The government should not make that a crime.
