Water for illegal aliens (Watertown Daily Times)

Water for illegal aliens
Activist sentenced for littering

MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2009

An Arizona man has been ordered to perform 300 hours of community service after his humanitarian gesture netted his arrest by Border Patrol agents for littering.

Walt Staton was convicted in a jury trial of a petty littering charge for leaving unopened gallon bottles of water in the federal Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge for illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico.

Mr. Staton is a member of No More Borders, which has drawn attention of federal authorities for providing humanitarian aid, including health care, to illegal immigrants.

According to Mr. Staton, Border Patrol agents broke off their pursuit of illegal immigrants to seize his water bottles meant to save lives in the desert.

Mr. Staton was ordered to pick up trash for his community service and placed on one-year unsupervised probation. He was also banned from the refuge for a year. He could have been sentenced to a year in prison and fined $10,000.

Federal authorities, of course, were within their rights. Littering is a crime, but it has to be put in perspective. In this instance the seriousness of Mr. Staton's compassionate act seemed exaggerated through its connection with illegal immigration. One wonders whether the thousands of dollars in time and resources prosecuting him might have been better spent on agents or other efforts to deter illegal immigration.