Illegal Immigration Activist Deported to Mexico
Immigration Activist Deported to Mexico
Aug 20, 6:54 AM (ET)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - An immigration activist who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year to avoid being separated from her son has been deported to Mexico, the church's pastor said.
Elvira Arellano was arrested Sunday afternoon outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church in Los Angeles. She was deported several hours later, said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, where Arellano had taken refuge.
"She has been deported. She is free and in Tijuana," said Coleman, who said he spoke to her on the phone. "She is in good spirits. She is ready to continue the struggle against the separation of families from the other side of the border."
Messages left with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were not immediately returned.
Arellano, 32, became a symbol of the struggles of illegal immigrant parents when she took refuge in the church to avoid being separated from her 8-year-old son Saul, who was born in the U.S. and is thus a citizen.
She had said Saturday she was not afraid of being taken into custody by immigration agents.
"From the time I took sanctuary the possibility has existed that they arrest me in the place and time they want," she said in Spanish. "I only have two choices. I either go to my country, Mexico, or stay and keep fighting. I decided to stay and fight."
Arellano came to Washington state illegally in 1997. She was deported to Mexico shortly after, but returned and moved to Illinois in 2000, taking a job cleaning planes at O'Hare International Airport.
She was arrested in 2002 at O'Hare and convicted of working under a false Social Security number.
She was to surrender to authorities last August.
She sought refuge at the storefront church on Chicago's West Side on Aug. 15, 2006. She had not left the church property until she decided to travel by car to Los Angeles, Coleman said.
Coleman said Arellano, who is staying with a friend in Tijuana, had brought to light her struggle, and for that, "she has won a victory."
"She'll be organizing on the Mexican side of the border while we're organizing in the (United) States," Coleman said Monday. "She'll be talking to organizations throughout Mexico and congressmen in Mexico City."
Coleman said he and other activists will continue Arellano's original plan to go to Washington, D.C. and take part in a prayer meeting and rally for immigration reform at the Capitol on Sept. 12.
Immigration activists responded with anger to her arrest, and promised protests and vigils to support her.
"We are sad, but at the same time we are angry," said Javier Rodriguez, a Chicago immigration activist who worked with Arellano. "How dare they arrest this woman?"
Anti-illegal immigrant groups said the arrest was long overdue.
"Just because the woman has gone public and made an issue of the fact that she is defying law doesn't mean the government doesn't have to do its job," said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors limits on immigration.
Arellano has repeatedly called for a stop to immigration raids that break up families with some members who are in the U.S. legally and others illegally.
Emma Lozano, Coleman's wife and head of immigration rights group Centro Sin Fronteras in Chicago, said she was Saul's legal guardian. At an afternoon press conference in Los Angeles, the boy hid behind Lozano and wiped away tears.
"He's taking it better than we thought he would," Lozano said.
While being arrested, Arellano spoke briefly with her son before submitting to authorities, Lozano said.
"She calmed him down, hugged him and gave him a blessing," said Lozano.
Re: Illegal Immigration Activist Deported to Mexico
How absurd is this?
First of all, where is the father of that child? (and, no, I mean the biological father, not the US Govt.)
Does Associated Press not think to ask this question?
The (repeated) law breaker/"activist" openly acknowledges Mexico as "my country".
Others quoted in the article state "How Dare" the govt arrest and deport this woman. The sense of entitlement is *enormous* and growing every day.
Tom
Re: Illegal Immigration Activist Deported to Mexico
She told the Mexican Congress the U.S. broke the law first by letting her in and accepting her tax dollars.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d69_1187877604&p=1
Re: Illegal Immigration Activist Deported to Mexico
Quote:
Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
Well there you go, she should be allowed to stay in for that reason alone....She failed to mention she stole an American citizen's SSN to get a job. The next time she tries to come in and you know she will, we should just throw her behind bars and leave her to rot. I'm amazed at these liberals who say because we are such a kind and caring nation we should let her stay. She stole someone's identity! She broke the law, send her back!
Re: Illegal Immigration Activist Deported to Mexico
I agree with you Tommy. She and a huge lot have this massive entitlement issue that they need to get over. It pisses me off that people could even think that it is justifyed that she stazy. Send her back. And if she comes back send her to jail. It is a huge issue. They come over and drop babies like bails of hay in the midwest. They think it is going to hel;p there cause or something so they drop 3 or 4 kids over here as fast as they can to try to makei t harder to be sent back when they are caught. I have zero sympathy at all for the situation but than again my personal beleif is that any one that comes across in the manner most do should be treated with zerro sympathy.
