Faith floods the desert: interfaith leaders unite to assert that humanitarian aid is a moral imperative

Approximately 60 advocates and faith leaders from across the United States are joining No More Deaths in Ajo, Arizona on Sunday, August 5 to call attention to the criminalization of humanitarian aid and the crisis of death and disappearance in the west desert (which stretches between Ajo and the Mexico–US border). These faith leaders are coming to stand in solidarity with humanitarian-aid workers and local residents who assert their right to provide humanitarian aid in the borderlands. Continue reading Faith floods the desert: interfaith leaders unite to assert that humanitarian aid is a moral imperative

Update from the summer volunteer program

Despite the increased criminalization of humanitarian-aid work we’ve witnessed over the past year, No More Deaths continues to provide lifesaving aid in the borderlands of southern Arizona. Our summer volunteer program trains a new group of volunteers each week and helps maintain a consistent humanitarian presence in the Sonoran Desert during the hottest months of the year. Continue reading Update from the summer volunteer program

Two volunteers recognized by national and international organizations

Attorney Margo Cowan—one of the founders of No More Deaths, pro bono attorney for the organization, and founder of the Keep Tucson Together legal clinics—was recognized in June at the annual conference of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Margo was given the Arizona Chapter Pro Bono Champion Award, honoring her years of pro bono service. Thank you, Margo, for your tireless work and dedication on behalf of the most vulnerable in our border community. Continue reading Two volunteers recognized by national and international organizations

Quest for justice for murdered teen continues

José Antonio Elena Rodríguez, sixteen years old, was walking down a street next to the border in his hometown of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico on the night of October 10, 2012. A cross-border incident was taking place. Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz, arriving on the scene, targeted José Antonio, firing sixteen times — from a hundred feet away, through the twenty-five-foot steel border wall that looms over the street. Ten of Swartz’s bullets tore into José Antonio’s body, two in his head and eight in his back. Continue reading Quest for justice for murdered teen continues