Source: Immigration Impact
In the summer of 2017, four humanitarian aid volunteers from a group called “No More Deaths” were driving on a restricted access road to leave food and water for migrants when they were arrested and charged with entering a wildlife refuge area without a permit and for abandoning property.
“In the past two decades, government figures indicate that the remains of over 7,000 people have been found near the U.S.-Mexico border. It is likely that many others have gone unrecorded.” In 2017, 32 bodies were found on the refuge.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) manages the refuge and required visitors to “initial a statement saying they would not leave food or water in the refuge.” Further, the refuge’s staff were instructed not to grant permits to anyone affiliated with No More Deaths. A FOIA request even found that USFWS kept a black list of humanitarian aid volunteers.
Although the four women were convicted last year, Judge Rosemary Márquez reversed the lower court’s decision, holding that the group’s attempts to prevent death were protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. See more here.
No More Deaths is a humanitarian organization under the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson Learn more about them here.