Should Immigrants Die when People Can Assist?

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Should Immigrants Die when People Can Assist?
Is it right to break the law to assist individuals who are in need? In the article, “They left food and water for migrants in the desert. Now they might go to prison” Kristine Phillips describes a case where four women were charged for leaving food and water for immigrants. In the article, Philips narrates how in the summer of 2017 four women drove along the southwestern border with Mexico. The women had carried water jugs and canned food which they left for the immigrants who are trying to cross the hostile terrain to reach the U.S. (para 1) All the four women were volunteers with Arizona-based aid group called No More Deaths which seeks to rescue immigrants who are stranded in the desert. The four women were charged for entering Cabeza Prieta, which is a protected refuge area without permission and leaving food and water behind. While the women indicated that their actions were motivated by religious convictions to preserve lives, they were convicted at a federal court in Tucson after a three-day bench trial. The women risk facing up to six months in federal prison.
While the four women violated federal law, they did it to protect immigrants from dying of hunger and thirst. In the article, it is clear that the four women violated the requirement to maintain “the Refuge in its pristine nature” (para 5). Considering the growing tensions between the U.S. and Mexico since Trump became president, such an action has been criminalized. Indeed, appearing to assist immigrants can be mistaken fo...