Activist Leaves Water for Illegal Immigrants, Lands Littering Sentence

An Arizona man who left water for illegal immigrants has been sentenced to a year of probation and 300 hours of picking up trash.

Walt Staton, a member of the group No More Deaths, left full plastic water bottles in December in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge for the immigrants who routinely pass through the 18,000-acre desert from Mexico. He’s banned from the refuge during his probation.

No More Deaths, which claims to provide humanitarian aid to migrants, called the sentence “stiff.” Staton is the second member to be tried for littering, and 13 more members were ticketed last month.

Federal prosecutors wrote that Staton’s “actions are not about humanitarian efforts, but about protesting immigration policies of the United States, and aiding those that enter illegally into the United States,” according to a sentencing memo.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service corroborated with the prosecutors, who argued that the plastic jugs, covered with the phrase “buena suerte,” or “good luck” in Spanish, were detrimental to the hundreds of bird, reptile and mammal species that live in the refuge.

“The obvious conclusion is that the defendant and No More Deaths wish to aid illegal aliens in their entry attempt,” according to the memo.

But “when is being a good Samaritan punishable under federal law?” asks Frank James, at National Public Radio.

Staton plans to appeal the conviction. His attorney, Bill Walker, called the sentence political prosecution, according to a KVOA report.

“We’re appealing because we don’t think that Walt committed any crime by putting out fresh, clean jugs of pure water to save human lives on the refuge,” he said.

Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants pass through the refuge every year, and both sides have said their committed to work together to find a new way to deliver water to immigrants making the risky trip over the border.