Scott Warren: Humanitarian Aid on the Border: 'An epic undertaking'

Photos courtesy No More Deaths

Describing recovering the remains of 18 people near his home in Ajo, Arizona since 2014, No More Deaths Volunteer Scott Warren testified, "The journey is a kind of epic undertaking where you have to put everything on the line to make it…There is an expectation of struggling.”

TRUMP PRESSURED ARRESTS of MIGRANT AID LEADERS IN MEXICO on WEDNESDAY
The leader of Pueblo Sin Fronteras was arrested Wednesday under pressure from Trump, as No More Deaths'volunteer Scott Warren's federal trial is underway in Tucson. Another leader, Cristóbal Sánchez was arrested in Mexico City, the same day.
http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/060519_warren_nmd_trial/no-more-deaths-trial-warren-testifies-defense-says-hes-compelled-help-migrants-desert/

By No More Deaths

Censored News

TUCSON -- In the federal trial of humanitarian aid volunteer Scott Warren.

Roundup of day 5 in the trial of #ScottWarren:

1) We began the day with over 100 people of faith joining together for a prayer service outside the courthouse. Faith leaders from around the country and across traditions spoke to the importance of staying true to one’s values in the face of repression, and to caring for the most marginalized in our society. “Water is sacred, water is life,” chanted the crowd. Just before Dr. Warren’s entrance to the courthouse, friends, family and supporters gathered around him and blessed him, that “no weapon formed against him prosper”. You can find photos here: Faith Floods the Courthouse

Humanitarian Aid is Not a Crime: Doctors and nurses support Scott Warren, as the UN and Amnesty International voice global support

Humanitarian Aid is Not a Crime: Doctors and Nurses Support Scott Warren, as the UN and Amnesty International Echo Support and Urge Charges be Dropped

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

TUCSON -- Doctors and nurses supported Scott Warren outside the courtroom on Tuesday, as the United Nations and Amnesty International voiced support for the humanitarian work and dropping the charges.

"Humanitarian aid is not a crime," was resounded in and outside the courtroom, and in voices around the world.

On the Arizona Border, We Know Who the Monsters Are

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
French translation by Christine Prat at:
http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=4408

It is sad to hear that the volunteers who leave water for migrants are being arrested on the Arizona border.
A few years ago, my friend took me to these same places, showing me the trails. It was about 116 degrees, and her car had no air conditioning. We wrapped ourselves in wet towels to keep going.
We watched the Border Patrol agents sit in their air-conditioned vehicles and throw their Starbucks cups on the ground, and buy junk food at Three Points.
They lounged around and yakked on their cellphones, all in the same area where volunteers putting out life-saving water are now being arrested.
If the timing was different, I could have been one of those arrested.
The volunteers who do this year after year are the heroes.
Another day, with temperatures over 116, my friends asked me to help them search for the body of a migrant. The heat knocked me out immediately, in minutes. They hiked in that scorching sun and found someone's loved one.
Others for years have provided shelter, a drink of water, a sandwich, or a ride to the hospital and saved a life. Sometimes the life saved is an Indigenous person who walked across countries, from Guatemala or El Salvador, in hopes of finding a way to feed their families at home.
The tiny graves in the desert sometimes have a string of Mayan beads across them. These volunteers are heroes.
We know who the monsters are.

Brenda Norrell, journalist in Indian country for 36 years, is publisher of Censored News.

Images: A grave on the Arizona border.
Shoes left behind by migrants. Photo by Brenda Norrell.
Border Patrol agent destroying life saving water, captured on hidden video.

Notes: Nine volunteers with No More Deaths have been arrested and face federal charges charges for leaving water for migrants in the Sonoran Desert on the Arizona border.
This region has one of the highest death rates for migrants.
An ASU instructor and No More Deaths volunteer was arrested this week for rendering aid to migrants at Ajo, Arizona, after No More Deaths released a report exposing Border Patrol agents destroying life saving water in the desert.6
No More Deaths is one of several organizations rendering humanitarian aid. Many individuals, including Tohono O'odham, quietly ignore the tribal and federal laws prohibiting giving aid, and save the lives of migrants.

More at Censored News:
'No More Deaths' 2018 Report, and links to arrest articles:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2018/01/us-border-patrol-continues-destroying.html?m=1


Copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News

U.S. Border Patrol Continues Destroying Life Saving Water for Migrants -- New Report 2018

Updates: The Intercept reports 9 volunteers have been arrested for giving humanitarian aid to migrants on southern Arizona border.
.https://static.theintercept.com/amp/no-more-deaths-arizona-border-littering-charges-immigration.html

Volunteer at No More Deaths arrested hours after the group released this report. Read article in The Guardian.

.https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/22/arrest-no-more-deaths-border-patrol-water-sabotage-migrants?__twitter_impression=true

U.S. Border Patrol has been accused of destroying food and water left in the Arizona desert for migrants. Above, a still from a video of an agent pouring water bottles out 

French translation by Christine Prat
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2018/01/us-border-patrol-continues-destroying.html

By No More Deaths

Dear friend of No More Deaths,

Today, No More Deaths, in collaboration with La Coalición de Derechos Humanos, is releasing Interference with Humanitarian Aid: Death and Disappearance on the US–Mexico Border. This report is the second installment of a three-part report series entitled Disappeared: How US Border-Enforcement Agencies Are Fueling a Missing-Persons Crisis. In part 2, we detail the intentional destruction of over 3,000 gallons of water left out for border crossers, implicating the US Border Patrol in the majority of this destruction.

Arizona -- Border Patrol attacked No More Deaths humanitarian camp

  America's War on the Voiceless

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Above: Border Patrol agents at No More Deaths Camp entrance in Arivaca, south of Tucson, on Thursday before arresting four migrants in need of emergency medical aid. Below: Agents from the Nogales Border Patrol station stalking the humanitarian aid camp on Wednesday and Thursday.

Border Patol Agents attack medical aid camp for migrants at Arivaca. On Thursday, 30 armed agents entered camp with at least 15 trucks, two quads and a helicopter overhead and arrested  four migrants receiving emergency medical aid, as deadly heat wave approaches with southern Arizona temperatures to reach 120 degrees.

Border Patrol Raids Humanitarian Aid Camp in Targeted Attack

By No More Deaths

Censored News

Contact: media@nomoredeaths.org
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Dutch translation by Alice Holemans at:
.https://www.denaisgazet.be/nieuws/2017/arizona-grenspatrouille-voert-aanval-uit-op-humanitair-kamp
French translation by Christine Prat
.http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=4094

A helicopter, 15 trucks and 30 armed agents descended on the medical aid station to apprehend 4 people receiving medical care in deadly summer heat
Thursday, June 15th, 6:00 pm, Arivaca, Arizona: In temperatures surging over 100℉, US Border Patrol raided the medical aid camp of humanitarian organization No More Deaths, and detained four individuals receiving medical care. Obstruction of humanitarian aid is an egregious abuse by the law enforcement agency, a clear violation of international humanitarian law and a violation of the organization’s written agreement with the Tucson Sector Border Patrol.
Agents from the Border Patrol began surveilling the No More Deaths’ camp on Tuesday, June 13th at around 4:30 PM. Agents in vehicles, on foot and ATV’s surrounded the aid facility and set up a temporary checkpoint at the property-line to search and interrogate those leaving about their citizenship status. The heavy presence of law enforcement has deterred people from accessing critical humanitarian assistance in this period of hot and deadly weather. These events also follow a pattern of increasing surveillance of humanitarian aid over the past few months under the Trump administration.
This afternoon, in an unprecedented show of force, approximately 30 armed agents raided the camp with at least 15 trucks, 2 quads and a helicopter to apprehend four patients receiving medical care.
For the past 13 years, No More Deaths has provided food, water, and medical care for people crossing the Sonoran desert on foot. The ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by border enforcement policy has claimed the lives of over 7000 people since 1998. Human remains are found on average once every three days in the desert of Southern Arizona.
Kate Morgan, Abuse Documentation & Advocacy Coordinator for the organization said, “No More Deaths has documented the deaths and disappearances of hundreds of migrants in the Arivaca corridor of the border. Today’s raid on the medical aid station is unacceptable and a break in our good faith agreements with Border Patrol to respect the critical work of No More Deaths”.
John Fife, one of the founders of No More Deaths, commented that, “Since 2013 the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol has had a written agreement with No More Deaths (NMD) that they will respect the NMD camp as a medical facility under the international Red Cross standards, which prohibit government interference with humanitarian aid centers. That agreement now has been violated by the Border Patrol under the most suspicious circumstances. The Border Patrol acknowledged that they tracked a group for 18 miles, but only after the migrants sought medical treatment did the Border Patrol seek to arrest them. The choice to interdict these people only after they entered the No More Deaths’ camp is direct evidence that this was a direct attack on humanitarian aid. At the same time, the weather forecast is for record setting deadly temperatures”.
People crossing the deadly and remote regions of the US Mexico border often avoid seeking urgent medical care for fear of deportation and incarceration. For this reason, a humanitarian focused aid station in the desert is an essential tool for preserving life. The targeting of this critical medical aid is a shameful reflection of the current administration’s disregard for the lives of migrants and refugees, making an already dangerous journey even more deadly.
In spite of this, No More Deaths remains committed to our mission to end death and suffering in the desert and will continue to provide humanitarian aid, as we have for the past 13 years.

Also see The UK Guardian's coverage:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/16/us-mexico-border-aid-camp-raid?CMP=share_btn_fb

The Intercept coverage:
https://theintercept.com/2017/06/17/arizona-border-patrol-raid-surveillance-no-more-deaths-humanitarian-immigration/

America's War on the Voiceless
No More Deaths Camp was attacked by Border Patrol agents who arrested four migrants receiving emergency medical aid at Arivaca, south of Tucson, late Thursday. This photo shows America's current violent attacks being carried by heavily armed police and agents targeting dying migrants crossing the desert on foot; the voiceless; the desperate and Indigenous Peoples, as was done by militarized police at Standing Rock. The weather forecast in southern Arizona is for deadly heat, with temperatures to reach  120 degrees. Attacking emergency medical aid is an humanitarian crime. 

-- Brenda Norrell, Censored News
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2017/06/arizona-border-patrol-attacked-no-more.html

Below: Border Patrol agents vandalize life saving water for migrants in 2012

In the early morning of May 14, 2012 Border Patrol agents destroy water left for migrants in distress along a desert trail near the town of Arivaca, Arizona. More than 178 people died while crossing the Arizona desert during Fiscal Year 2012. [note: the time stamp on this video is incorrect]