For an earlier report on the No More Deaths movement >>

LOUISVILLE - Oct. 20, 2005 – [posted here 10-21-05]  The church-backed No More Deaths movement has launched a campaign to pressure the U.S. government to drop felony charges against two border-ministry activists charged with smuggling illegal immigrants.

Presbyterian church leaders in Arizona were instrumental in forming the movement, which is based in Tucson. For the past two summers, the group has provided food, water and medical care to illegal immigrants crossing into the United States through Arizona's treacherous desert borderlands.

"We're doing a lot of different things to kind of educate the community about this case, and get them with us on our side," said Beth Sanders, media coordinator for No More Deaths.

Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz, both 23, were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents on July 9, with three undocumented border crossers in their vehicle.

Each of the volunteers, who are not Presbyterian, was charged with one count of transporting an illegal alien and conspiracy to do so. They said they were taking the men to Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson for medical care. Border Patrol officials said the men weren't ill, and were refused medical aid once in federal custody.

No More Deaths officials hope to gather at least 10,000 signatures on postcards to be sent to Paul K. Charlton, the U.S. Attorney for Arizona. The group wants Charlton to drop the charges against Sellz and Strauss, who are scheduled to go to trial in Tucson on Dec. 20.

"I think the point is to be really loud about it," Sanders said. "Overall, the consensus was to get as many people involved and educate the community as much as we can, so we can make a lot of noise and let Paul Charlton know that he can't keep this case in his power, that it's unacceptable."

The No More Deaths effort is being billed as "Humanitarian Aid is Never a Crime."

More than 100 people gathered at Southside Presbyterian Church Wednesday to show support for the campaign. Similar gatherings are planned for every Wednesday until the trial. Sellz, who has moved from Colorado and New Mexico to Tucson, was at the church for the rally and was given a standing ovation, according to No More Deaths. Strauss lives in San Francisco.

Sandy Raynor, a spokeswoman for Charlton's office, could not be reached Thursday. However, she told an Arizona newspaper that she had no knowledge of the campaign. She said Sellz and Strauss were indicted by a federal grand jury and the U.S. Attorney's Office is proceeding with the case on that basis.

The defendants turned down a plea offer from the government last summer, arguing that saving lives is nothing to feel guilty about. The conspiracy charge carries a 10-year maximum sentence; the transporting charge could bring a sentence of five years in prison.

The 261-mile-long stretch of border in the Tucson sector is the nation's main corridor for illegal immigrants entering the United States. A record number of migrants - more than 270 - died in Arizona's deserts in fiscal 2005.

A spike in deaths over the past decade has raised the concern of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In 2003, the denomination's 215th General Assembly approved an overture calling for measures to prevent migrant-worker deaths in the borderlands.

The measure, submitted by the Presbytery de Cristo, which represents 30 Presbyterian churches in southern Arizona and western New Mexico, calls on Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) to work with congregations and middle governing bodies in the border areas to provide appropriate ministries to migrants in life-threatening situations.

In mid-April, the PC(USA) and the Synod of the Southwest sponsored a three-day conference on the crisis titled "Death & Life on the Border."

PDA provided $15,000 to the Synod of the Southwest to help finance the conference; the synod kicked in $12,000. PDA also has contributed $20,000 to the Presbytery de Cristo to support a number of border projects, including No More Deaths. Money for the grants came from designated disaster funds and the One Great Hour of Sharing offering.