Man who left water for immigrants faces prison

AP via SFGate ^ | 12/4/9

[SmithL]

Tucson, Ariz. (AP) -- A judge has threatened to sentence an Arizona man to 25 days in prison for leaving jugs of water in the desert for illegal immigrants.

A federal jury in June convicted Walt Staton of Tucson of littering in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

. . .

Staton is a member of the group No More Deaths, which supports humanitarian aid along the border. He was scheduled to be re-sentenced Friday after he told a U.S. magistrate last month that he objected to the court's punishment on moral and legal grounds.

[GizmosAndGadgets]

I'm so confused on this one... I don't want to tolerate illegal aliens sneaking across our borders, but I don't want them to die trying, either. So, I'd be opposed to the GOVERNMENT offering water in this circumstance, but I can't quite see how an act of individual charity equals Federal punishment (going to jail now only because Staton argued about his previous sentence to community service.)

In fact, it seems that the only crime was leaving the water (littering), not the actual act of trying to help the IA's. If he just stood in the desert and gave the water out as needed, there'd be nothing to charge the guy with! Of course, if the same imperial overlords were actually doing their job (one of the few things our government is actually supposed to be doing, a la the Constitution, Article I, Section 8: "...suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions", Mr. Staton wouldn't have any IAs to give water to!! Good grief.

If you want to punish the guy, how about making his "community service" related to cleaning-up the mess the IAs make on their trip...

[ColdWater]

You agree that illegals should get citizen ship?

[Shooter 2.5]

There might be a special place in Hell for a judge who would make a ruling like this.

[ColdWater]

You miss the point. This guy is part of a movement for ‘immigrant rights’. They work to encourage the free movement of people into our country and to have the same (or more rights) than we now have. Don’t be fooled.

[ColdWater]

There might be a special place in Hell for a judge who would make a ruling like this.

You are supporting the international immigrants rights movement with your post. A place in Hell is reserved for you.

[Selmore]

Pay a fine, get a social security number, get a work permit while your here waiting, and get to back of line.

yeah, i'm ok with it then.

[ColdWater]

Here is what you are supporting:

“In particular, the report describes how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
along with other police, public officials and agencies, routinely trumped the civil rights and
constitutional protections of a person in order to question, detain and/or jail them solely
based on their actual or perceived immigration status.”

[ColdWater]

Read this a come back and say you still support them:

Climate Justice and Migration: Position Statement
As members of the Climate Justice and Migration Working Group of the Mobilization for Climate Justice, we represent national and international faith-based, human rights and immigrant rights organizations concerned with climate change and its effect on migration around the world.

Understanding that climate change jeopardizes the traditional homes, lifestyles, health and means
of survival for many around the world, we call for:

• The international protection of the human rights of people displaced due to environmental
factors, including recognition of refugee status and guarantee of all corresponding rights
and accommodations achieved through support and expansion of international rights agreements on refugees, the internally displaced and migrants, as well as the formulation of multilateral migration agreements.

• Recognition of the right of human mobility.

• Increased policy and public awareness of environmental refugee and migration issues, including investment in further research drawing the link between environmentally degrading practices, climate change, and migration.

• Provision of a legal framework and financial assistance to allow migrants displaced from their home countries entrance to other countries.

• International recognition of the ways in which climate change has impinged on the rights f nations, as outlined by United Nations conventions.

• Provision for nations whose security is threatened by the disappearance of habitable land. s these “disappearing states” lose territory, we affirm the right of every nation to overeignty.

• A reduction of domestic carbon emissions, mindful of the ways in which our energy use ndangers the environment internationally. We ask that the US and other developed
nations model environmental responsibility by adhering to the Intergovernmental Panel n Climate Change’s suggestions, which indicate that the global community must reduce
emissions by between 25 and 40 percent by 2020 and by a minimum of 80 percent by 050, below a 1990 baseline, in order to remain sustainable.

[GladesGuru]

“I am all against illegal immigration but I won’t deny a hungry man some of my food or a thristy man some of my water.”

Would you not be bound to hold them until they could be taken into custody for deportation?

Just wondering.

[ColdWater]

But these guys insist that there be no line. They say that people have a right to free movement because their plight is caused by global warming and the industrial countries MUST reduce their carbon emissions.

[ansel12]

I guess that because you KNOW these folks are doing something illegal,

These people are not just doing something illegal, like most of us do some times, these people's very existence here is illegal.

Would you try to smuggle yourself across the Swiss border with the full intention of living there as a parasite, hiding from the law, forging official Swiss documents to survive in your criminal life, hiding in the shadows to ingratiate your future offspring into their welfare and social support systems and schools, lying to people on a daily basis (like a sociopath) all for personal gain? Could you live like that? Could you be that kind of person? Could your mom or dad be that kind of person? When did you start respecting people like that? Are you someone under a certain age that doesn't remember how America was before the Democrats passed the 1965 Immigration act?

[Secret Agent Man]

Only if their boat is going down.

And then we sail them back to Cuba. As far as I am aware if they don’t hit the shores they get sent back.

[GladesGuru]

Given that Americans in Messico have no rights, effectively - I am trying to care about how illegal Messican immigrants are dealt with.

Unfortunately, my Give-A-D*mn program, ver.101, just won’t load tonight.

[Secret Agent Man]

But you’re not down there giving them water.

Would you be morally okay with police giving them water after arresting them and trucking them across the border immediately?

Are you morally okay with aiding and abetting a foreigner breaking your country’s immigration laws?

What moral right do they have on our country that we have to let them in, given they care nothing about our laws and coming in through the legal immigration channels we have, as a nation, self-determined? Broaden the question: what moral right does any non-citizen have to illegally emigrate to another country? Just “wanting to”, is not a moral claim that absolves them of breaking the other country’s immigration laws. They aren’t coming here because they are fleeing civil war, or in a persecuted group. It’s purely economic.

[ColdWater]

It’s amazing how many on this thread came out supporting this anti-Arpaio socialist.

[ColdWater]

This guy was jailed for setting water out.

This guy is part of an organized socialist movement to break down our borders, implement the anti-global warming initiatives and to get rid of Sheriff Arpaio.

[sten]

the most humanitarian thing we could do for those poor people struggling to get across the desert would be ...

to build a big wall....

in the middle of a 1/2 mile stretch of open nothingness...

electrified.

and since the 1/4 mile south of the wall would also be America, just standing at the wall would be grounds for being shot

ok, maybe my patience is running thin tonight, but illegals seem to be the source of all my grief... at all levels of government

[Bad Jack Bauer]

Would you not be bound to hold them until they could be taken into custody for deportation?

Just wondering.

Nope. Not my job to hold them and it is probably illegal to do so. I usually gave them some water or food and let them continue on their way. Not going to set any water out for 'em but like I said, not going to refuse a thirsty man a drink of water. Not a Christian thing to do.

[21twelve]

I agree that he should be punished for aiding and abetting an illegal. But personaly, I would help a person I came into contact if they really needed help, and also call the authorities. (Like getting the stray cat out of the cold and giving it some water on the way to the shelter).

Back to sneaking into Switzerland - would I get a free rifle?!

Actually - it brings up an interesting point. Not to excuse the illegals, but how far would you go to provide for your family in the wake of a corrupt and insane country like Mexico is today? Perhaps America at some point in time. Not to the point of gaming the system or robbing folks - but how about poaching a deer or fishing out of season to feed your family?

Or heck- the Soviet Union or East Germany of days past. Although I’m not sure it was illegal to be in West Germany - just illegal to leave East Germany?

Agree with Sten. The most humane thing we could do is build a fence and enforce our borders. (Not sure about the shooting anybody with 1/4 mile.) If the stray cats don’t have the dish of food set out for them across the steet, perhaps they would take it upon themselves to change things at home.

[ColdWater]

If the stray cats don’t have the dish of food set out for them across the steet, perhaps they would take it upon themselves to change things at home.

Good point.