Re: the Feb. 3 column "You don't have to break the law to give humanitarian aid."
Jonathan Hoffman's op-ed piece asserting that humanitarian aid doesn't have to be illegal, and contrasting the border work of No More Deaths and Humane Borders in that regard, creates a false dichotomy. All of the local groups leaving water for undocumented migrants making the ultra-hazardous journey on foot across the desert deserve our help. No government should treat nonviolent life-saving work as a crime. The Washington Post said as much in its Jan. 27 editorial, "Convicted for leaving water for migrants in the Desert: This is Trump's justice."
I have been driving a water truck for Humane Borders for close to four years, but I do not speak for the organization. Speaking for myself, I support the humanitarian efforts of No More Deaths, Tucson Samaritans, and Humane Borders. Scott Warren is not a criminal. I deplore the efforts of our government to put him in prison. It is morally wrong to treat the undocumented as subhuman. We must do everything we can to prevent them from dying.
Stephen Saltonstall
Northeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
