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A federal judge on Friday reportedly found four women guilty of misdemeanors after they illegally entered a national wildlife refuge along the US-Mexico border to leave water and food for undocumented migrants. According to The Arizona Republic, the four women were aid volunteers for No More Deaths, an advocacy group dedicated to ending the deaths of undocumented immigrants crossing desert regions near the southern border. One of the volunteers with the group, Natalie Hoffman, was found guilty of three charges against her, including operating a vehicle inside the Cabeza Prieta national wildlife refuge, entering a federally-protected wilderness area without a...

TUCSON - For the fourth straight summer, the humanitarian organization No More Deaths will have volunteers patrolling near Arivaca in southern Arizona hoping to prevent illegal immigrants from dying as they cross the desert. Organizers expect about 600 volunteers - including physicians, nurses and other health professionals - to participate over the summer, like last year, with a permanent desert camp east of the small community of Arivaca. But they've added a few new wrinkles in their latest campaign to keep migrants alive. In recent years, Arizona has been the busiest point along the U.S.-Mexico border for illegal entry, and...

  PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2006: Back to Mexico No More Deaths and the state of Sonora team up to give aid to unsuccessful border crossers By MARGARET REGAN Jay Rochlin Vallet bathes de la Paz's aching feet, which were blistered and bruised in a days-long hike in the hilly desert north of Sasabe. Jay Rochlin Alicia Bruno de la Paz, a migrant caught and bused back to Mexico by the Border Patrol, gets first aid and a little TLC from No More Deaths volunteer Maryada Vallet in Nogales, Sonora. Jay Rochlin A certified emergency medical technician, Vallet checks...

/div> A federal judge dismissed indictments Friday against two No More Deaths volunteers who were charged with transporting illegal entrants to get medical care in July 2005. Shanti A. Sellz and Daniel M. Strauss were facing prison time in the high-profile case that was scheduled to go to trial next month. Attorneys for Sellz and Strauss, both 23 at the time of their arrests, had asked for the charges to be dismissed twice, most recently arguing that the two were being selectively prosecuted. The two had previously rejected a plea offer with the U.S. Attorney's Office. In his ruling, U.S....

A surge in the number of volunteers fanning out across Arizona's southern deserts to aid illegal immigrants is expected this summer. The increase comes despite the ongoing prosecution of two volunteers arrested last summer on federal charges they intentionally conspired to transport illegal entrants, leaders of illegal immigrant aid groups said. Shanti A. Sellz and Daniel M. Strauss, both 24, were arrested as they drove illegal entrants to a clinic on July 9 and face trial in October. Leaders of two faith-based groups, No More Deaths and Samaritan Patrol, say they've signed up hundreds of volunteers to deliver food, water...

Tucson Region Hearing ends in case of two entrant helpers Arizona Daily Star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.11.2006 Testimony in a hearing on whether to dismiss charges against two volunteer aid workers charged with violating federal immigration law wrapped up Tuesday, and now U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernardo P. Velasco is weighing a decision. Jeff Rogers, the attorney for defendant Daniel M. Strauss, said two weeks would be about average for the judge to issue a decision, though since Velasco has been ill Rogers speculated it could take longer. Velasco's decision will be a recommendation to U.S. District Judge Raner...

A Durango woman working for a humanitarian organization on the U.S.-Mexico border was arrested July 9 in Arizona after U.S. Border Patrol agents identified three illegal immigrants in her sedan. Skinny's Grill and landscaping employee Shanti Sellz was working with the organization No More Deaths, which provides food, water and medical assistance to immigrants crossing the border. Colorado College graduate Daniel Strauss and the three migrants also were detained. Two of the individuals were returned to Mexico. The third is being held as a material witness in the case. Sellz and Strauss face a preliminary hearing in Tucson, Ariz., on...