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Border Activists Not Guilty of Feeding/Watering ‘Illegals’
“The Trump administration is wrong to try to prosecute people who are only trying to save lives. …The US government sought to criminalize compassion and weaponize the deadly desert against people who make the perilous journey to the United States in search of safety.”
– Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International
A Federal court jury has found border aid worker Scott Warren not guilty of rendering assistance to two Central American men in the Arizona desert last year. Warren, a member of the Tucson-based No More Deaths organization, had been charged with two counts of felony harboring after authorities raided an Ajo migrant aid station known as the Barn in January of 2018.
Warren was arrested for allegedly harboring Honduran Jose Sacaria Goday, 21, and Salvadoran Kristian Perez Villa-nueva, 23, who had crossed the border illegally.
The twelve-person jury deliberated for only two hours and its not guilty verdict was loudly cheered in the courtroom. Warren’s supporters and fellow aid workers, including clergy members from throughout the country were present for the verdict, and many had been there throughout the trial. A guilty verdict would have sent him to prison for decades.
