Activist Gave Undocumented Migrants Food, Water; He Was Arrested

TUCSON, AZ — Federal agents arrested a man near the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona after he tried to give "food, water, beds, and clean clothes" to immigrants who were in the country illegally. Scott Warren, a volunteer with the humanitarian-aid group No More Deaths, was arrested near Ajo, Arizona, hours after the group — which tries to prevent immigrants from dying in the Arizona desert — released videos of U.S. Border Patrol agents kicking over water bottles left out for those crossing the border unlawfully. Two people who were receiving aid were also arrested, the group said.

Warren, 35, who is also a faculty member at Arizona State University, faces a federal charge of harboring two people in the country unlawfully. He appeared in court on Thursday and on his own recognizance. The two other individuals remain in custody.

Federal court records said Border Patrol agents surveilled a building known as "the Barn."

“After finding their way to ‘the Barn,’ Warren met [the two immigrants] outside and gave them food and water for approximately three days,” a federal complaint said, according to NBC.

Ajo is about 87 miles southwest of Phoenix. The group calls the remote corridor the “Devil’s Highway.” It has one of the longest stretches of wilderness along the border, and temperatures can reach 110 degrees over the summer and extremely fluctuate over the winter. It is also home to the 8,500-square-mile Barry M. Goldwater bombing range.

"Almost half of the 128 recovered remains of border crossers found in 2017 in Arizona were found in this area," No More Deaths says.

Group volunteer Caitlin Deighan told The Associated Press on Monday that they view Warren's arrest as "an escalation and criminalization of aid workers."

Warren's attorney William Walker said his client's actions were not criminal.

"This is a humanitarian aid worker trying to save lives," he said.

Walker told NBC he has worked with the group for years. They had an understanding with the federal prosecutors, the Border Patrol and wilderness area managers that the volunteers were "a neutral party."

“We don’t smuggle people, we don’t violate the law — what we do is we help to save lives, and they’ve recognized that for years,” he said.

Carlos Diaz, southwest branch chief for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told the news outlet Warren's arrest was legal and "done properly." He said courts will ultimately decide Warren's fate, but that the arrest was done "as part of our responsibility to protect the border."

Patch has reached out to Warren and No More Deaths and will update when we hear back.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo credit: John Moore/Getty Images