Arts & Sciences Events
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Arts & Sciences
[PAST EVENT] Mike Wilson, Human Rights and Border Activist
February 23, 2012
4pm
Mike Wilson is a lay minister, member of the Tohono O'odham tribe in Arizona and a human rights activist.
In 1999 he attended San Francisco Theological Seminary for one year,
followed by a year as lay pastor of the Presbyterian Church on the Tohono
O'odham Reservation. At that time, Arizona was experiencing a dramatic
increase in the number of undocumented migrants entering the United States
across its southern border with an unprecedented number of migrants dying
from dehydration and hyperthermia on the O'odham reservation. As a
person of faith, Mike began to leave water along known migrant trails. His
congregation objected to his actions, and in 2002 Mike resigned his
position over the moral issue of providing life-saving water for migrants.
He still maintains water stations for migrants crossing the Arizona desert
on his tribal lands. For his humanitarian efforts he has been threatened
with banishment (by the Tohono O'odham Attorney General's Office) and with
being labeled a "terrorist" (by the Tohono O'odham Legislative Council).
Mike speaks regularly on human rights issues and immigration reform and
has been featured in numerous documentaries, including "Crossing Arizona"
(2006) and "The 800 Mile Wall" (2009). He continues to provide water to
those who risk their lives crossing the desert in search of a better life.
In 1999 he attended San Francisco Theological Seminary for one year,
followed by a year as lay pastor of the Presbyterian Church on the Tohono
O'odham Reservation. At that time, Arizona was experiencing a dramatic
increase in the number of undocumented migrants entering the United States
across its southern border with an unprecedented number of migrants dying
from dehydration and hyperthermia on the O'odham reservation. As a
person of faith, Mike began to leave water along known migrant trails. His
congregation objected to his actions, and in 2002 Mike resigned his
position over the moral issue of providing life-saving water for migrants.
He still maintains water stations for migrants crossing the Arizona desert
on his tribal lands. For his humanitarian efforts he has been threatened
with banishment (by the Tohono O'odham Attorney General's Office) and with
being labeled a "terrorist" (by the Tohono O'odham Legislative Council).
Mike speaks regularly on human rights issues and immigration reform and
has been featured in numerous documentaries, including "Crossing Arizona"
(2006) and "The 800 Mile Wall" (2009). He continues to provide water to
those who risk their lives crossing the desert in search of a better life.