A humanitarian group known as No More Deaths places water at various locations in the desert regions near the Mexican border so that migrants do not die of dehydration while making the crossing. Whatever one’s views are of migrants crossing the border in this way, I think we can all agree that taking steps to prevent the deaths of people is a noble endeavor. That is, unless, you are the Customs and Border Protection of the US government whose agents were found to be systematically destroying the water stations. The No More Deaths group held a press conference where they leveled these accusations.

U.S. Border Patrol agents’ destruction of potentially lifesaving water aid stations in the Arizona desert is “widespread and routine,” according to a report published Wednesday by a humanitarian group.

Tucson-based No More Deaths accused border agents of kicking, slashing and dumping plastic gallon containers of water that the humanitarian organization leaves for migrants trekking through the desert attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.

“We’ve had video footage, and still people were saying, ‘Maybe it’s just a few rogue agents,’ ” said Kate Morgan, abuse document coordinator for No More Deaths. “We really wanted to show that this is systemic, that this is part of a larger policy, and we wanted to offer people raw numbers to show that.”

What kinds of monsters destroy water containers left in the desert to save people? Ah yes, it’s a ‘few rogue agents’, a variant of the extremely popular ‘few bad apples’ excuse that the US government routinely trots out whenever it is exposed as having committed some horrible actions.

After that press conference, one of their volunteers Scott Warren was arrested by the CBP when he provided food and water to migrants.

According to court records, Border Patrol had set up surveillance on a building known as “the Barn,” and tracked the two migrants to the location. They also saw Warren approach the building and talk to the migrants.

The migrants turned themselves in to the agents.

The two men allegedly told agents they had researched online how to best cross the border illegally, and had obtained the address of “the Barn” as a place to stop for food and water.

“After finding their way to ‘the Barn,’ Warren met them outside and gave them food and water for approximately three days,” the complaint filed in federal court states. “(One of the migrants) said that Warren took care of them in ‘the Barn’ by giving them food, water, beds and clean clothes.”

A few days ago, Democracy Now! interviewed Warren and Catherine Gaffney of No More Deaths about the inspirational work these humanitarians do to save lives.

Warren faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the three felony counts that have been leveled at him. What kind of nation punishes people who give food, water, and shelter to people in need? As Amnesty International stated, “No one should die while attempting to migrate and no one deserves to be punished for working t prevent those deaths.” Clearly this nation that constantly boasts that it is devoutly Christian needs to read Matthew 25: 31-46 in the Bible that quotes Jesus.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

But the public profession of Christian values in the US has always been a sham as can be seen in the genocide of its indigenous peoples and the centuries of slavery, all of which were carried out simultaneously with expressions of overt piety.