Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Support No More Deaths Website Link!

Please check out website! Spread the word! The lives of humane beings are at stake!

http://www.nomoredeaths.org/

No More Deaths is a coalition of communities and individuals of faith and conscience that works to end the suffering and deaths of migrants in the Arizona-Sonora borderlands.

We embrace an action plan that includes movable desert camps, support of migrant aid centers, maintenance of water stations, Samaritan patrols that search the desert for migrants in need, and advocacy on behalf of migrant-related issues.

action@nomoredeaths.org

No Mas Muertes:
Sitio En EspaƱol

No More Deaths

Phoenix
Migrant Deaths
in Arizona

Home Who We Are News Campaign Legislation Volunteer Donate Contact

No More Deaths University of Arizona
Trial Date has been set for OCTOBER 3RD

As of February 6th, former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Stanley G. Feldman has joined attorneys Bill Walker and Jeff Rogers on the defense team for Shanti and Daniel.

We Need Your Help!

No More Deaths is in a period of limbo as we wait to see what the jury decides in Shanti and Daniel's case. While we await a decision, we are moving rapidly back into the summer season of death on our border. The desert heat is heavy when combined with the heat of our government. We need all of the help we can get, be it time or thoughts or money. Please give as you are able. Your continued support allows us to sustain our fight to keep humanitarian aid legal and to maintain our presence in the desert this summer.

Checks should be made out to St. Mark's Presbyterian Church and have No More Deaths in the memo.

No More Deaths c/o St. Mark's Presbyterian Church
3809 East Third Street
Tucson, AZ 85716
Email: action@nomoredeaths.org

Office: 520.495.5583 (Tucson) 602.818.5447 (Phoenix)
Shanti and Daniel Fight Humanitarian Aid Charges

No More Deaths volunteers, Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, both 23, were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol for medically evacuating 3 people in critical condition from the 105-degree Arizona desert in July 2005.

Shanti and Daniel were following the protocol of NMD training (acknowledged by NMD and US Border Patrol) by consulting medical professionals who advised them to evacuate the critically ill men to a medical facility, and then consulting a NMD attorney who approved the evacuation.

Their arrest and subsequent prosecution for providing humanitarian aid has shocked people of conscience around the world. These young humanitarians are facing prosecution by the US government which could result in a 15 year prison sentence.

We urgently need your help and support to stop this prosecution.

Statements from NMD representatives and supporters:

"...On the basis of the facts as presented, Amnesty International is supporting calls for the charges to be dropped in this case and considers that, if convicted and imprisoned, Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz would be prisoners of conscience."

Tom Jones, Retired US Administrative Judge

Rev. John Fife

Margo Cowan, Lawyer

Rev. J. Stuart Taylor

Representative Kyrsten Sinema

United Church of Christ

Derechos Humanos

American Friends Service Committee

Guatemalan Acupuncture and Medical Aid Project

Bates Butler, Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona

Amnesty International

vPhotos
vHumane Borders' Map

Migrant Deaths 2004
vBrief History of the US-

Mexico Border
vVolunteer Reflections -

Summer 2004
vNMD 2004 Report
vNMD Summer 2005

Report
vNMD Historical

Summary
vHR4437,

Sensenbrenner's

Proposed House Bill
vNational Immigration

Forum Link
Current Legislation on Immigration
vCall to Action:

Why our work is

important
vFaith-Based

Principles for

Immigration Reform
vClergy Supporting

Faith-Based

Principles
vFall Campaign

Report
v Lenten/ Passover

Fast for Justice

Toolkit
vEndorsers of the

Principle
v2005 NMD

Outreach Toolkit
-National Conference of State Legislatures

-National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (Chart)
vComparisons of

Current Immigration

Legislation
Humanitarian Aid Is Never a Crime
More
ACTION ALERT!!!

Volunteer with NMD this summer!!!

Take Action Now on Senate Immigration Reform

vContact Your Senators

vDrop the Charges!!
Volunteer Application Summer 2006
NO MORE DEATHS

Humanitarian Aid Is Never A Crime

Summer Desert Work

The hottest part of the summer is just beginning. Once again, No More Deaths will have a continuous presence in the desert in order to take direct action to save lives. Join us this summer on the Arizona border.

We are now accepting volunteer applications.

Please email completed applications to action@nomoredeaths.org

Volunteer application 2006

Material Wish list

Medical Volunteer application

Medical material wish list

We would appreciate applications as soon as possible- especially from those
interested in being a LONG-TERM volunteer this summer.

No More Deaths is comprised of individuals, faith communities, human rights advocates, and grassroots organizations who have come together to work for social justice in the Borderlands. We are a strong bi-national movement and invite both people of faith and people of conscience to join us through both direct and symbolic action.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dean Tuckerman

Begin forwarded message:
From: SolidarityInfoServices
Date: May 29, 2006 8:54:24 PM PDT
To: BAN@topica.com, Labor4Justice@topica.com
Subject: STUDENTS FACE 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SAVING LIVES OF
UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
Reply-To: SolidarityInfoServices@igc.org

* STUDENTS FACE 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SAVING LIVES OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

Bay Area Tour of Tucson Immigrant Rights Activists Facing 15 Years in Prison for Rescuing Undocumented Immigrants

OWC CAMPAIGN NEWS - distributed by the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights, c/o S.F. Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St., #203, San Francisco, CA 94109.

To SUB/ UNSUBSCRIBE, contact the OWC at .
Phone: (415) 641-8616 Fax: (415) 440-9297.
Visit our website at www.owcinfo.org
(Please excuse duplicate postings, and please feel free to re-post.)
-------------------
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS,
PLEASE HELP US BUILD & PROMOTE THIS TOUR!

Dear S.F. Bay Area Supporters of Immigrant Rights:

Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss -- two college students in Tucson, Arizona, who face up to 15 years in prison on felony charges for saving the lives last summer of undocumented immigrants in the Arizona desert -- will be in the San Francisco Bay Area on June 17-20, 2006, to build support for their defense campaign.

As you will read in the article below, their trial is set to begin in mid-August.

Please join us in welcoming Daniel and Shanti to the Bay Area for a Tucson Two Defense Campaign kickoff rally at the Unitarian Universalists Church in San Francisco (Franklin @ Geary) on Saturday, June 17 -- from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

For those of you living in the Santa Rosa-Sonoma area, there is another meeting planned in Santa Rosa on Monday, June 19. (Please drop us a note, and we will send you the exact info with time and place of this gathering.)

We are also in the process of organizing one or more meetings in the other cities in the greater Bay Area. If you would like to invite Daniel and Shanti to speak before your community organization, union, student group or church at any time during these four days, please contact Millie Phillips at 415-821-9683 or to make arrangements.

In light of the current debate in th Congress over "immigration reform," this defense campaign takes on particular importance. It is likely that if the House and Senate are able to come to an agreement on a "reform" law, it will contain provisions criminalizing those who harbor or otherwise support "illegal" undocumented immigrants.

Criminalization for aiding undocumented immigrants already exists on the books in the state of Arizona. Daniel and Shanti are meant to be its first victims. That is why the fight to stop the heinous criminalization provisions in the Sensenbrenner bill (HR 4437) and in any new Congressional "compromise" bill must include the fight to drop all the charges against Daniel and Shanti.

Thanks for marking your calendars for the big event on Saturday, June 17th at the Unitarian Universalists Church. And please get back to Millie Phillips as soon as possible if you would like to (1) help us build this tour, and/or (2) organize your own special event with Daniel and Shanti.

One last note: We need your financial support to help defray the costs of the tour. Please send a check, large or small, to OWC, c/o San Francisco Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco, CA 94109. Make your check payable to "OWC."

Thanks, in advance, for your support,

In solidarity,
Millie Phillips
Bay Area Tucson Two Tour Committee

Alan Benjamin
Co-Coordinator,
OWC Continuations Committee
San Francisco Labor Council
******************

COLLEGE STUDENTS FACE 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SAVING LIVES OF
UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

FREE THE TUCSON 2!

By LEITH KAHL

In July 2005, college students Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, both 23, were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol for medically evacuating three men in critical condition from the 105-degree blistering heat of the Arizona desert south of Tucson.

Shanti and Daniel were volunteers of the No More Deaths coalition (NMD), a binational united front of faith-based and secular community organizations that works to prevent immigrant deaths along the border by organizing mobile desert relief camps, support to migrant aid centers, constant maintenance of a large network of water stations, Samaritan patrols that search for immigrants in distress, and political advocacy on behalf of immigrants.

No More Deaths volunteers had encountered a group of nine dehydrated immigrants - three of whom were in very serious condition, suffering from nausea, constant vomiting, and diarrhea after drinking water from a contaminated cattle trough. The volunteers gave water and frozen fruit to the whole group, and then escorted the three ill men back to the No More Deaths base camp, where a volunteer physician examined them, and consulted with two other medical professionals by phone.

The medics unanimously recommended evacuating the men to a clinic in Tucson, and a volunteer lawyer documented the recommendation.

Shanti and Daniel volunteered to drive the men to the clinic, but the car never reached Tucson. They were pulled over by the Border Patrol. Shanti and Daniel were arrested and charged with "transportation in furtherance of an illegal presence in the United States" and "conspiracy to transport in furtherance of an illegal presence in the United States" - two felony counts that carry a potential of up to 15 years in prison.

The three migrants were held at a Border Patrol station for several hours and then deported without receiving any medical attention The No More Deaths volunteer physician came to the station and offered to treat the men on site, but was turned away. The Border Patrol maintains that the three men were not really sick.

Shanti and Daniel were scheduled to begin trial on April 25, 2006, but that date has been postponed till mid-August. Thus far U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton has not dropped the charges, in spite of requests to that effect from the numerous clergy and public officials, the ACLU, and Amnesty International.

No More Deaths is waging a growing campaign against the charges. They are asking all supporters to write Paul Charlton and tell him to drop all charges against individuals arrested for engaging in humanitarian work:

Mr. Paul K Charlton
United States Attorney
District of Arizona
Two Renaissance Square
40 North Central
Suite No. 1200
Phoenix, AZ 85004-4408.

No More Deaths has created a Shanti and Daniel Defense Action Kit which can be downloaded from their website: http://www.nomoredeaths.org/

As part of this campaign, No More Deaths is also asking all U.S. citizens to send in pledges promising that they will aid an undocumented migrant in distress wherever and whenever they might meet one. These pledges can be mailed to:

No More Deaths
St. Mark's Presbyterian Church
3809 Third Street
Tucson, AZ 85716-4611

(This article is reprinted from the March-April 2006 issue of The
Organizer newspaper.)
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
FAIR USE NOTICE: For more information go to:
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