Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss are college students in Tucson, Arizona. They are facing up to 15 years in prison on felony charges for the volunteer work they did last summer to help undocumented immigrants in the Arizona desert. Their trial is set to begin in Aguust. They are in the Bay Area this week to build support for their defense campaign. On Tuesday, June 20th, they will speak at the Friends' AFSC Hall in SF, 65 Ninth St. (between Mission and Market Sts.). On Saturday, June 17th, they spoke at 1pm at the Unitarian-Universalist Center in San Francisco. Shanti Seliz and Daniel Strauss were in Sacramento on Sunday, June 18th. They spoke in the Gold Run Room at the Coloma Community Center, at 4623 T Street. The event was sponsored by the Chicano Consortium, Sacramento Community Forum, and Not in Our Name/Sacramento.

Shanti and Daniel volunteered with the No More Deaths coalition (NMD), a binational organization that works to prevent immigrant deaths along the border by organizing mobile desert relief camps, support to migrant aid centers, constant maintenance of a large network of water stations, Samaritan patrols that search for immigrants in distress, and political advocacy on behalf of immigrants.

Daniel and Shanti are apparently meant to be the first victims of an Arizona law against helping undocumented immigrants. For this reason, some pro-immigrant rights activists feel that the struggle to stop anti-immigrant legislation should include the demand that the charges against Daniel and Shanti be dropped. No More Deaths is waging a campaign against the charges. They are asking that supporters write to US Attorney Paul Charlton and tell him to drop all charges against individuals arrested for engaging in humanitarian work. No More Deaths is also asking all U.S. citizens to send in pledges promising that they will aid an undocumented migrant in distress wherever and whenever they might meet one.

No More Deaths | More info about the case (article from The Organizer) | Poster for June 17th event | Arizona IMC's Border Issues Page | Open World Conference of Workers