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Border Patrol arrested a volunteer with No More Deaths last week, hours after the humanitarian group held a news conference to accuse border agents of tampering with their water-aid stations in the Arizona desert.

Agents on Wednesday detained Scott Warren, a faculty associate at Arizona State University, on charges of harboring undocumented immigrants.

Warren was arrested near Ajo with two men who had crossed the border illegally.

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."

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Warren's attorney Bill Walker said he intends to prove that Warren's arrest violates a long-standing understanding that humanitarian groups have with Border Patrol and U.S. Attorney's Office — that the groups can help migrants.

"We don't smuggle them, we don't do anything to help them enter the United States, we do nothing illegal," Walker said. "This place that they raided is not in the middle of the desert, it's not hidden anywhere. It's in the city of Ajo, and it's been used for a long time, not to help smuggle migrants, but to give medical care and food and water."

Warren appeared before a judge on Thursday and was released on his own recognizance, court records show.

ASU released a statement on Monday saying Warren is a faculty associate at the university, not a full-time professor. He is currently teaching an online course on Earth's natural responses to environmental change.

"Mr. Warren was not acting in his capacity as an ASU employee at the time of the alleged incident and we have no reason to believe it will impact his ability to fulfill his current duty with the university,” the statement read.

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ASU Prof Scott Warren's work with No More Deaths

Timing called 'suspicious'

No More Deaths called the timing of the arrest "suspicious." Walker said it was "absolutely" retaliation.

On the day Warren was detained, the group had released a report and video showing Border Patrol agents stomping, kicking, and slashing gallons of water that they had left for migrants along the desert near Arivaca.

The report denounced border agents for harassing and intimidating humanitarian-aid volunteers.

"It felt retaliatory in that it occurred less than eight hours after our press conference releasing these findings that implicated Border Patrol," volunteer Caitlin Deighan said. "But we can't confirm that with certainty."

Border Patrol referred The Arizona Republic's requests for comment to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which refused to comment, saying the investigation is ongoing.

Deighan said Warren has been a volunteer with No More Deaths since 2013, and that he has played a key role in the organization's work near Ajo, which they describe as one of the deadliest corridors along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"We see an escalation in the criminalization of humanitarian-aid workers, and especially in the west desert part of Arizona, which sees almost half of the recovered human remains that are found in Arizona," Deighan said. "There's a true danger there, and it's an extremely important place for us to do work."

Other volunteers have been arrested

Aid workers have increasingly faced hurdles to carrying out humanitarian work in the Arizona desert, including in and around Ajo.

Some have been banned from the Air Force's Barry M. Goldwater bombing range, as well as the nearby Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Arizona.

Federal officials accuse the volunteers of trashing the areas, and say that leaving supplies can endanger wildlife. But humanitarian groups said their work dropping off water is saving lives.

There have been two high-profile Arizona cases of volunteers who were arrested while doing humanitarian work.

In July 2005, Border Patrol arrested two No More Deaths volunteers after finding three undocumented immigrants in their car. The volunteers said they were taking the migrants to a clinic to receive medical care.

In 2008, federal officers charged another aid worker with littering for leaving behind water gallons for migrants at the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

In the first case, a federal judge tossed the charges, and in the second, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction.

No More Deaths said humanitarian work should never be criminalized. They acknowledged uncertainty over what will happen under the administration of President Donald Trump, who has pressed for stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

"We recognize that it's a different political climate," Deighan said. "All we can do is hope."

This story was updated to more precisely describe Scott Warren's role at ASU as an instructor.