This story ran yesterday in other places. Note the careful weaseling about 'who did what,' and what the alternatives were:
Emil Hidalgo-Solis couldn't stop throwing up. His diarrhea was bloody. His feet blistered. He had staggered through the desert, stumbled across the border, gulped contaminated water from a slimy cattle trough.
...Then, from nowhere, a truck appeared. On its side, in big letters, was the word "Samaritan." Inside were members of a faith-based group called No More Deaths, offering water, food and a ride to a doctor. They took the three to a makeshift camp, then set out for a church where a doctor and nurse would meet them.
...But then, Strauss [a civilian "rescuer"] looked back and saw that they were being followed by a Border Patrol vehicle. The officers trailed them for maybe 13 miles before pulling them over.
Interesting--the Border Patrol was onto this 'rescue wagon' real quick, eh?
"The officer turned to us and said, 'Those guys are illegal and you know it.' "
Two more Border Patrol vehicles arrived. They arrested Hidalgo-Solis and his companions. But they also arrested Strauss and Sellz [another civilian 'rescuer']
"Are you really arresting me?" Sellz recalls asking, in amazement.
"I know you guys are good people, but what you're doing is illegal," she was told.
Then, way, way down near the end:
OOOOOOPSSS! The JSonline edition forgot the rest of the story!
Here's more from an Arizona TV source:
The United States Border Patrol says no matter the cause for transporting illegal immigrants, the volunteers were breaking the law.
"There's so many emergency resources out there, no need for anybody to transport illegal aliens in their own vehicle. They need to find law enforcement personnel."
Yah, hey. Why do you think the Border Patrol's vehicle was so close?
"We've gone on record before saying do not do this. Do not transport illegal aliens in your car. We will arrest you and pursue prosecution. That's not a secret at all," said Andrea Zortman, Border Patrol Agent.
Border Patrol agents say the undocumented immigrants' condition is not as dire as volunteers suggest.
"Our Border Star agents checked those three individuals out and found they were not in medical distress. They just needed a little bit of water and they were good to go."
Just co-incidence that Jim Sensenbrenner is our Congressman, eh?
The "rescue" bunch knew that the BP was on to them; they knew that BP resources were always nearby; and the knew that transporting illegals in a private vehicle would likely get them arrested.
Pandering, anyone?
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