Date: July 6, 2017

STATE: Arizona

BRIEFING FOR THE R2 DIVISION OF REFUGE LAW ENFORCEMENT CHIEF
PREPARED BY: Yurie Aitken, Federal Wildlife Zone Officer, DRLE, Zone 1 + 2
SUBJECT: Conference Call/Meeting with No More Deaths.
PURPOSE OF BRIEFING DOCUMENT: Advisement of items from the call.
ISSUES: There have been violations/encounters with subjects associated with No More Deaths (NMD)
on Service administered lands and wilderness areas when the group is engaged in humanitarian efforts.
MEETING NOTES:
Entities present: No More Deaths Volunteers and Attorney, NPS, SOL, DOJ, FWS,
I.

United States Department of Justice (DOJ) statements include;
 How can we get there with No More Deaths
 95% of issues between the Government and NMD are with Department of Interior
 Tickets issued are dismissed/not prosecuted if the person shows up to court (DOJ has them
“Commit” to not violate again)
 A few with DOJ attended the last face to face meeting 3 to 4 years ago but everyone else
(decision makers/mangers) have moved on so it is starting anew
II. No More Deaths statements include that they;
 Saved thousands of lives over the years
 Perform searches for missing and dead people on Service lands (along with other groups) and
have found approximately 20 sets of human remains that are mostly years old
 Have greater capabilities and are specialized with maps, searches and going into remote areas
 Held a meeting 3 to 4 years ago with managers (who have apparently moved on) and had an
understanding
 Have identified the migration has shifted from South of Tucson to West of Tucson where it is
just Government land between Mexico and Ajo and is more dangerous for those crossing there
 Have adopted the Red Cross humanitarian code of conduct and would like the Government to do
likewise as a starting point
 Want to have transparency and open lines of communication if/when issues arise
 Have no ability to apply for permits to do humanitarian work as the need was never foreseen
when the regulated/permitted activities on Service lands was formulated
 Pick up trash and are good stewards of the land and leave only a small footprint
 Want feedback on how they are doing and if their volunteers are misbehaving
 Have many of the same goals as the Government or people who work for the Government
 Have no agenda other than humanitarian work and are not political
 Acknowledge that all sorts of people are crossing from Mexico to include drug smugglers,
coyotes, women with children, wonderful and not wonderful people
III. General Observations and Possible Action Items
a. Future face to face meeting.
b. Review of permit process.
c. (b) (5)

 d. Provide NMD with a Designated Service Point of Contact for ongoing/frequent communications.
e. Meeting seemed to be cordial with NMD wanting to hear from the Government.
f. (b) (5)
g. Not much (if anything) was agreed to and nothing was really proposed. NMD gave an overview
of their efforts and expressed common goals they would like to work with the Government on to
save lives.