Four women were found guilty by a federal judge Friday of illegally entering a national wildlife refuge near the U.S.-Mexico border to leave food and water for illegal immigrants crossing the Arizona desert.
The women were volunteers with No More Deaths, a group fighting to end deaths of illegal immigrants crossing the sometimes treacherous desert landscapes along the border, according to reports.
Prosecutors said Natalie Hoffman had been driving a vehicle inside the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Arizona on Aug. 13, 2017, and leaving 1-gallon water jugs and cans of beans, reports said.
She was also accused of entering the refuge without a permit. The other three women — Oona Holcomb, Madeline Huse and Zaachila Orozco-McCormick — were with Hoffman when they encountered a U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer inside the refuge.
They were found guilty of entering the area without a permit and abandoning personal property. – READ MORE