As we close out the year, we honor the work done by hundreds of No More Deaths volunteers. Their efforts, made possible by your donations, reach many thousands of migrants, refugees, and undocumented community members. In the last year, volunteers:
► Placed 21,412 gallons of water on migrant trails in southern Arizona’s desert, covering a 2,500-square-mile area
► Helped 300 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (known as DACA) file their renewal before the October 5 cut-off date
► Helped about 1,500 people recover $250,000 from their jail accounts after being deported to Mexico with uncashable checks
► Helped more than 600 Tucson residents complete the naturalization process to become citizens; 90 percent qualified for a waiver of the $700 fee
► Launched an emergency-legal-representation project for undocumented Tucson residents, providing official legal representation to 2,200 people and operating a 24-7 response line for those stopped by the Border Patrol or other law enforcement
► Provided information to 416 callers via our help line for lost border crossers and their families
► Provided 3,972 phone calls to migrants and recent deportees in northern Mexico, who contacted family members in 12 different countries
► Brought our findings on how Border Patrol apprehension methods endanger people’s lives on a five-college speaking tour around the US, and prepared our 6th report, on destruction of humanitarian aid by enforcement agents, for early 2018 release
► Trained more than 200 new volunteers, from all over the US and abroad, to help with our work, including 105 who came to assist with desert humanitarian aid
Featured photo: Tara Trudell. Volunteers hiking remote highlands.