Source says immigrant activist leaves church, is en route to L.A.
By Antonio Olivo, Tribune staff reporter
3:18 PM PDT, August 17, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/chi-w ... ome-center


Rev. Marco Cardenas leads Elvira Arellano, her son Saúl, and other activists in prayer Wednesday before giving a news conference commemorating her year of taking refuge in Adalberto United Methodist Church, on the West Side.

Elvira Arellano has slipped out of Chicago and apparently is headed toward Los Angeles, where an immigration march is being planned for Saturday, a West Coast march organizer said today.

She had announced plans this week to travel to Washington next month.

Arellano, an illegal Mexican immigrant, became a lightning rod in the country's immigration debate after taking refuge inside a Humboldt Park church last summer. Just two days ago, she announced she was leaving the church and was heading to Washington, D.C., to participate in a Sept. 12 prayer and fast vigil on the National Mall.

If all goes according to plan, she will be joined in Los Angeles by her U.S. citizen son, Saul, 8, who flew ahead with a family friend, a West Coast organizer said Friday.

"That is a courageous, courageous woman, absolutely," said Javier Rodriguez, whose group, the March 25 Coalition, is coordinating the planned downtown Los Angeles march.

Arellano, 32, apparently left the Adalberto United Methodist Church on Thursday night, shortly after the church locked its doors and stopped receiving visitors, announcing a period of meditation and prayer. A source privy to the plans for Arellano's departure who requested anonymity said she left in a car sometime after 8 p.m.

Emma Lozano, one of Arellano's closest advisers, wouldn't confirm Arellano was en route to Los Angeles.

"As far as I know, she is still . . . she is in sanctuary," Lozano said.