Volunteers Face Human-Smuggling Charges
July 25, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
Two volunteers will stand trial in Arizona in October for stepping over what the government has called the line between humanitarian aid and human smuggling, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The defendants, Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, belong to a group called No More Deaths, which says it transported 68 migrants from the desert to Tucson for medical care in the year prior to the arrest. The group says it followed protocols and that the precise wording of the law is not meant to criminalize innocuous transportation of illegal migrants.
But the Border Patrol chief, Michael Nicley, says his office was never contacted and that he warned the group that transporting illegal immigrants for any reason would not be tolerated. (A paid subscription is required to view this article.)
