Thread: Elvira Arellano To End Sanctuary In Chicago Church

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Immigrant Rights Activist To End Sanctuary In Chicago Church, Advocate In D.C.

August 15, 2007 4:32 p.m. EST


Jessica Pupovac - AHN Writer
Chicago, IL (AHN) - An undocumented Mexican immigrant who has been hiding out in a Chicago church in defiance of a deportation order for the past year announced plans Wednesday to leave the confines of the church and head to Washington, D.C.

Elvira Arellano added fuel to the immigration debate on August 15, 2006, when she announced her intention to defy U.S. immigration law and seek sanctuary in Adalberto United Methodist Church, in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood. The move, according to Arellano, was an effort to remain in the U.S. with her son, Saul, a legal citizen by birth.

Arellano has since become a figurehead of the immigrant rights movement and the founder of Families United, an organization that works to draw attention to the plight of families struggling to stay together despite mixed legal status. She has also become a lightning rod for critics, such as conservative talk show host Lou Dobbs, who have charged her with exploiting her son's citizenship for personal gain.

Arellano announced today at a press conference that she will continue to advocate for the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the nation's capitol. "I'm not going to stay quiet, nor wait for them to come to arrest me and deport me. I have to fight and this is part of the fight," she said.

After the Senate failed to pass a bipartisan bill in June that would have offered a path to legalization for parents in Arellano's position, the executive branch clamped down on enforcement of existing laws with more workplace raids, higher penalties against employers who hire illegal workers and a vamped up efforts to track down and detain undocumented immigrants.

Although it is not clear exactly when Arellano and her son will leave Chicago, she said that she will participate in a vigil on the Mall facing the capitol building on Sept. 12, a day that organizers have targeted for a national economic boycott . She said in Spanish that her presence there will "not be a challenge" to authorities, but rather a way to draw attention to a crisis that legislators "haven't wanted to solve."

Arellano was arrested in 2002 during an immigration raid at O'Hare International Airport, where she worked cleaned airplanes. She was convicted of using a fake Social Security number.

Immigration officials, who are not legally prohibited from arresting Arellano during her stay in the church, have been reluctant to take any action of comment on the case.



Copyright © AHN Media Corp - All rights reserved.
Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008209281
_________________
Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.

See Aug 15 thread........."elvira leaving church"

In a Lou Dobbs pole tonight 97% of people said ICE should pick her up and deport her.

We are about 12 months late. Better late than never. ADIOS!

Originally Posted by JoinTheFight

In a Lou Dobbs pole tonight 97% of people said ICE should pick her up and deport her.

Did you vote in the poll here on Alipac? Under polls.....

No i voted on Lou Dobbs.

They are also going to be protesting on the White House lawn on Sept 13. They are calling for a boycott of schools, businesses and work. When all the details are clear we should save as many purchases as we can to spend money on the same day as the protest.