Should activists help migrants or leave their fate to border agents?

CABEZA PRIETA, Ariz. - Four young women, volunteers from a local migrant aid group, appeared before a federal judge for sentencing in Tucson last week. Their crime: leaving jugs of water, food and other supplies in a desolate desert refuge 130 miles west to protect the lives of migrants illegally crossing the Mexican border.

In January, the four members of No More Deaths had been convicted of trespassing in the sprawling Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. They each faced up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Instead, following an impassioned hearing, they received relatively minor sentences of 15 months' unsupervised probation and a $250 fine.

The case raises significant questions about whether the Border Patrol provides migrants in peril with sufficient assistance when the Trump administration is making every effort to prevent asylum seekers from reaching border crossings.

The women's attorney, Chris