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Union-Tribune Editorial
A simple solution / Desert deal can preserve refuge, save lives
Friday, December 11, 2009 at midnight
A standoff in Arizona could soon result in an idealistic young theology student being sentenced to 25 days in a federal lockup on a littering conviction.
The case centers on 27-year-old Walt Staton, who leaves water jugs along trails in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge – trails traveled annually by tens of thousands of illegal immigrants entering the United States from Mexico. Some die in the relentless desert heat.
The notion of leaving water for immigrants traveling through the desert is not unfamiliar to San Diego County residents who have read of the efforts of Escondido’s John Hunter. Along with many volunteers, he installs and maintains hundreds of water stations for immigrants traversing the Anza Borrego and Yuha deserts.
A key difference between Hunter’s situation and Staton’s is also the key to solving the larger issues surrounding the unfortunate stalemate in Arizona.
Hunter and his organization operate stations under permits granted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and a memorandum of understanding with state park officials.
Staton and his group do not have permits. A little more than a year ago, Staton was cited by an agent of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for littering after leaving water jugs in the preserve. Staton declined to pay a $175 fine and insisted on a jury trial. He was convicted in June and ordered to complete 300 hours of community service, which he would have been allowed to do in California, where he is working on a master’s degree at the Claremont School of Theology. But Staton, who is appealing the conviction, wrote the judge in November to say he will not complete the community service because to do so would be an acknowledgment that he is guilty of a crime. And, he insists, putting fresh water in the desert to help save lives is not a crime.
Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer C. Guerin told Staton that she will sentence him to two hours of jail time for every hour of community service he faced if he continues to refuse. She gave him two weeks to reconsider.
“I don’t want to (do jail time). I really don’t. But I don’t think what I did was wrong,” he said this week. “So, I guess I will.”
So, while Staton may go to jail for littering, the big-picture solution is for his group and refuge officials to negotiate an agreement that allows potentially lifesaving water to be distributed legally, as Hunter does here and in Imperial County.
“I’ve always tried to abide by the law,” Hunter said. “But there is the law and then there is the higher law. I admire the guy, if he’s willing to put himself at risk and take the consequences to save lives.”
And that apparently is what the generally law-abiding Hunter was thinking last month when he and another activist jumped into the All-American Canal to string safety buoys for immigrants who try to swim across.
He will find out at a Dec. 29 hearing whether he will face a fine or jail time for that act of civil disobedience.
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