blog #10

​DAY 5- NOVEMBER 19TH

1. This morning we gathered outside the courthouse to write letters and collect funds for folks detained in immigration jails. For people who cross the desert, surviving the journey may mean the beginning of being trapped in dehumanizing & dangerous detention facilities. These spaces can be especially harmful for LGBTQ individuals. Letters and donations will go to support Trans Queer Pueblo, the LGBTQ Detainee Support Collective, and the Casa Mariposa Visitation Program. If you’d like to make a donation, click here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/zyb568-support-trans-asylum-seekers
2. Dr. Scott Warren took the stand this morning. His testimony focused on the dire need for humanitarian aid in the desert around Ajo.  He spoke at length about his personal experience recovering the bodies of eighteen individuals who perished during their journey. He explained that, “It doesn’t get easier….but one thing that’s a bit disturbing, frankly, is you start to expect it.”
3. Scott spoke about how his first Search and Recovery led him to get more involved with humanitarian aid, and that the experience underscored how being oriented to one’s surroundings can mean the difference between life and death. Being oriented gives people a chance to self-rescue, and the ability to share enough information with a Search and Rescue team to make a rescue possible. He specifically testified about the landmarks he pointed out to Jose and Kristian – two landmarks visible from a long distance than can be used to find one’s way to the only paved road for miles if they need help. If someone becomes disoriented and walks away from the highway, they will find themselves in an active bombing range.
4. Scott spoke in more detail about the horrors faced by people on their journeys.  “For any migrant who enters the desert or for Central American folks traveling up through Mexico they have experienced all kinds of violence along the way. […] The intensity of having to travel that distance, people being left behind, people being kidnapped or killed, encountering the bodies of other people dying from the elements. This leaves trauma and PTSD for those that keep going.”
5. In providing the humanitarian aid of water, food, and orientation, Scott testified about the internationally recognized standards of neutrality, set out by organizations such as the Red Cross. He explained that, here in Arizona, neutrality means, “We are not there to help migrants evade Border Patrol and we are not there to help Border Patrol arrest migrants.”    
6. During the afternoon, Scott was cross-examined by Prosecutor Anna Wright, who dug into the organization’s protocols and his role. Anna Wright repeatedly tried and failed to undermine Scott’s credibility based on his previous testimony. She grilled Scott on testimony that he viewed it as part of his role to maintain a safe space for volunteers and migrants alike, and his testimony that he respects the self-determination of migrants while providing humanitarian aid. In a show of remarkable insensitivity, Ms. Wright questioned Scott on whether or not he conducted criminal background checks and ran fingerprints on Jose and Kristian before offering food and water.
7. The prosecutors continued to accuse Scott of concealing Jose and Kristian because he did not call Border Patrol when he encountered the two men on the property. However, Scott had previously testified about participating in Ajo Border Patrol’s Citizens Academy in 2013. He confirmed that Border Patrol agents stated that no one had any obligation to report undocumented migrants to them.

The defense rested their case this afternoon. Court will reconvene tomorrow morning at 9:30am. The prosecution will have the opportunity to call a rebuttal witness, and then the defense and prosecution will make their closing arguments.
For more information on No More Deaths’ Search and Rescue efforts or information on how to look for someone who has gone missing after crossing the border, see our website: https://nomoredeaths.org/searching-for-someone-missing-at-the-border/