Students face 15 years in prison fro saving lives of undocumented immigrants

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 <ilcinfo [at] earthlink.net>.
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Visit our website at http://www.owcinfo.org - Notify if any change in email
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(Please excuse duplicate postings, and please feel free to re-post.)
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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 onJune 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 at <miphillips [at] igc.org> to
make arrangements.

In light of the current debate in the 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.)

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