Thread: Arellano turns up in L.A.: Says she doesn't fear arrest on

Arellano turns up in L.A.:
Says she doesn't fear arrest on 1st trip away from sanctuary

August 19, 2007
BY ROBERT JABLON

LOS ANGELES -- An illegal immigrant who avoided deportation by living in a Chicago church said Saturday she is not afraid of being taken into custody on her first trip outside the sanctuary in a year.
Elvira Arellano spoke at a downtown Los Angeles church as her 8-year-old son Saul, a U.S. citizen, participated in a small rally a few miles away at City Hall.

''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.''

Congress failed to pass immigration reform legislation in its last session. Arellano and activists want lawmakers to place a moratorium on deportations and hammer out reforms that would allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the country, at least temporarily.

''We cannot wait for another election,'' she said. ''We can't wait, sitting with our arms crossed, while our families are being separated.''

The 32-year-old and her son took refuge last year at Chicago's Adalberto United Methodist Church. Arellano said she didn't want to be separated from the boy, who was born in the United States.

She has since become a symbol of the struggles of illegal immigrant parents and a source of controversy, praised for her steadfastness and criticized as a scofflaw.

She spoke at La Placita, a historic Catholic church near the Mexican-themed Olvera Street, which has joined other churches nationwide in declaring itself a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. The movement is largely symbolic since immigration agents are not legally barred from making arrests in churches.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials declined to comment, but uniformed agents did not appear to be present at the church or rally.

Local church officials said Arellano planned to visit and pray today with the families of four illegal immigrants living in churches in Los Angeles, then head back east.

The Rev. Richard Estrada, associate pastor at La Placita, also known as Our Lady Queen of Angels, said Arellano could serve as an inspiration and bolster the spirits of the four families living in three Los Angeles area churches.

"There's a message of hope she's passing on,'' Estrada told the Sun-Times. "While she's here, we wanted her to speak to them."

Although hopeful about the movement's ability to protect Arellano and the other illegal immigrants, Estrada worries immigration agents could come at any time.

"There's a concern," he said.

From Los Angeles, Arellano planned on heading to Washington, D.C., to take part in a Sept. 12 prayer meeting and rally for immigration reform at the Capitol.

''I will go and pray and fast in front of the Congress,'' Arellano said. ''I will go with my Bible and my son, and I will read to him from the Holy Scriptures as I do every day.

''If this government would arrest me and separate me from my son, let them do it in front of the men and women who have the responsibility to fix this broken law and uphold the principles of human dignity.''

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 but instead sought sanctuary at the Chicago church on Aug. 15, 2006. The Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto, said Arellano had not left church property before driving to Los Angeles. AP

Contributing: Dan Rozek

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/516 ... s1.article

''I will go and pray and fast in front of the Congress,'' Arellano said. ''I will go with my Bible and my son, and I will read to him from the Holy Scriptures as I do every day.

''If this government would arrest me and separate me from my son, let them do it in front of the men and women who have the responsibility to fix this broken law and uphold the principles of human dignity.''

Uh ....no.... please take your son with you

By the way.... ICE Needs to be locked up for letting this go on as long as it has

Congress will have a lot to answer for if they allow this lawbreaker to address them. ICE already has a lot to answer for when it comes to Elvira!

Do we need a quick Focus campaign to put some pressure on the LA / Laguna Niguel office of ICE to go get Elvira and send her home???

Arellano turns up in L.A.: Says she doesn't fear arrest on 1st trip away from sanctuary



Then why all the HIDING?????

''If this government would arrest me and separate me from my son, let them do it in front of the men and women who have the responsibility to fix this broken law and uphold the principles of human dignity.''

I don't care if they have TV cameras there and show it to the world. Let EVERYONE know we DON'T WANT THEIR GARBAGE SNEAKING IN, BREAKING OUR LAWS, KILLING AND MAIMING BY DUI, RAPING, MURDERING, SEXUALLY ABUSING CHILDREN, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.

i hope this criminal does wake people up, we are being invaded, our laws need to be enforced! unfortunately, i think the illegals WANT her arrested in a very public place and turn this simple matter of law & order into a big sob story. ice should have, discreatly, (if that was possible ) arrested her before she left that so called church.

Originally Posted by Lone_Patriot

i hope this criminal does wake people up, we are being invaded, our laws need to be enforced! unfortunately, i think the illegals WANT her arrested in a very public place and turn this simple matter of law & order into a big sob story. ice should have, discreatly, (if that was possible ) arrested her before she left that so called church.

LP, you certainly got that right. This is nothing but a publicity stunt on her part to pull at the pansy liberal heart strings. Call me crazy, but I honestly believe she wants to be arrested on national TV just to further her cause and gain some sort of support.
ICE should get her before she even gets close to DC.

PhredE, we most certainly should have a focus campaign against this loser to try and get her arrested.

''I will go and pray and fast in front of the Congress,'' Arellano said. ''I will go with my Bible and my son, and I will read to him from the Holy Scriptures as I do every day.

Well then elvira the loser, maybe you should read Romans 13:1-7, but I'm guessing you skipped over that scripture because it would have told you that God said to OBEY THE LAWS OF THE LAND and this certainly wouldn't help your cause!

She wants to be arrested in D.C. but if they arrest her, she'll get to be a martyr, right?

She acts so high & mighty up on her throne. I'd love to go to D.C. just to kick her.....er scratch that, I'm just being hormonal today, LOL. I can't stand the whole bible toting thing either, she can read the bible all she wants but she's still an evil person at the end of the day.

Whatever EVIL-RA is smoking, I want some too! LOL. This woman is delusional!!

Ok, let's say she gets what she wants, aka amnesty for illegals. HELLOOO, Evil-ra, you have a felony record now, so there is no way in Hell that you will be granted amnesty! Lightbulb moment, eh?

You see, Evil-ra, either way you will be deported. So might as well go now WITH YOUR ANCHOR BABY while he is still young and can learn Spanish. You know what they say, children can learn anything.

Oh, why am I addressing this to her. She doesn't speak English! My bad. How do you say 'My bad' in Spanish????