Warren was arrested in January 2018 by Border Patrol agents for providing aid to migrants. He was charged and faced trial on felony charges of harboring and conspiring to transport undocumented immigrants and faced a 20-year prison term for trying to save lives. His jury trial became hopelessly deadlocked and could not reach a verdict.

The U.S. government refused to drop the charges against Warren in spite of the United Nations, numerous faith leaders and humanitarian organizations calling on the government to stop its prosecution of Warren. Since Warren’s arrest in January 2018, 88 additional bodies have been recovered from this Arizona desert region.

The soul of a nation can be determined by how it responds to people in need. When our government decides to prosecute kindness and we the people say and do nothing, the soul of our once-proud country is gone — along with our care and compassion for one another.

How does our country — always a beacon of human rights — become a nation in which kindness and caring for others is no longer the core of our being? How does this make America great again?

Jerry Hanson
Elkhorn