Thread: Feds to Arrest Illegal Immigrant Taking Refuge in Church

Maldonado, who is a native of Puerto Rico, described as "unjust" the FTA with Mexico, "because it only applies to trade and does not comply with the free movement of persons".

What is she talking about. Last time I checked, Mexican Citizens can move freely between the US and Mexico so long as they have a proper passport and Visa.

Oh, Im sorry. By "freemovement" she means that Mexican Citizens cannot come and go as they please, enjoy every economic benefit this country has to offer while still pledging aligence to their beloved Mexico.

I think she is wrong on both counts as it seems that atleast 20 million illegals are doing just fine in this country and probably in no immediate danger of ever being deported.

I think Maldonado needs to clarify what she meant by "freemovement."

Oh times are changing!! The author of this article in my local paper is a notorious supporter of 'immigrants.' This is the FIRST time I've seen him use 'illegal' in the headline. So this woman helped organize the boycotts in Waukegan after the council voted in 287g? She needs to be sent home to be active there.


Second illegal immigrant seeks refuge in church
Activist has ties to Waukegan

January 29, 2008
By RYAN PAGELOW rpagelow@scn1.com

Defying a deportation order, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant with ties to Waukegan has taken sanctuary in a Chicago church.

Flor Crisóstomo was due to report to federal immigration officials on Monday, but instead sought refuge at Adalberto United Methodist Church to draw attention to comprehensive immigration reform. She follows the example of immigration activist Elvira Arellano, who spent a year holed up at the church and was deported to Mexico last August shortly after leaving the church.

» Click to enlarge image
Flor Crisostomo uses a portable loudspeaker during an immigration rights protest in Waukegan last October.
(News-Sun file)

Crisóstomo immigrated without papers to Chicago from Mexico seven years ago. She took a job with IFCO Systems, a manufacturer of crates and pallets, and was arrested during raids on company sites nationwide in 2006. Since then, she has become an immigrant rights activist.

Last summer, Crisóstomo worked with the immigration rights group Centro Sin Fronteras to help coordinate a boycott of Waukegan businesses that did not oppose the city's decision to apply for a federal program that would train local police to initiate deportation proceedings for serious criminals who are not U.S. citizens.

In October, she also helped to organize a small march for immigration reform from First Baptist Church in Waukegan to U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk's office on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, along with the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

Crisóstomo said she could not support her family if she returned to Mexico, where her three children live with their maternal grandmother. Crisóstomo will stay in the church's second-floor living quarters indefinitely.

"I am taking a stand of civil disobedience," Crisóstomo said Monday. "I believe with all my heart that the United States and Mexico must end the system of undocumented labor."

The Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of the Adalberto Methodist Church in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago, said that by living at the church -- apart from her three children -- Crisóstomo brings attention to how they believe immigration policies in the U.S. need attention.

"The current policies are driving people further and further underground," Coleman said. "That's the reason she came in the first place. She's saying that you need to fix the system here."

Openly defying a deportation order may turn Americans against the very immigration reforms that Crisóstomo and the church are trying to accomplish, said Rosanna Pulido, a field representative from Chicago for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group aimed at stopping illegal immigration.

"It only happened once before with Elvira Arellano and you saw the backlash," she said. "Every time she got on TV she made the American people more angry. She was breaking our laws and nothing was being done."

Gail Montenegro, a spokeswoman for the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago, declined to comment on Crisóstomo's specific case.

"ICE officers are sworn to enforce the nation's immigration laws and will do so at appropriate times and places," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article[/b]

Here's another gem. And for the first time I see she still needs a translator.


Church Harbors Woman Facing Deportation

Flor Crisostomo, an illegal immigrant from Mexico arrested at a workplace ra...
By MICHAEL TARM, AP
27 minutes ago

CHICAGO — A Mexican woman says she is "picking up the torch" from another illegal resident who became a symbol for immigration reform when she took shelter in a Chicago church for a year before being deported.

Flor Crisostomo, 28, who paid a smuggler to drive her across the U.S. border in 2000, spurned a deportation order Monday and moved into Adalberto United Methodist Church.

Crisostomo hopes her actions send a message similar to Elvira Arellano, who became a beacon of hope for millions of illegal immigrants and a lightning rod for those who saw her brazen refusal to leave the U.S. as proof of lax enforcement.

Arellano lived in an apartment on the church's upper floor for a year before leaving in August to visit Los Angeles, where immigration authorities arrested her and, within hours, deported her to Mexico.

Adalberto's pastor said no one pressured Crisostomo to take sanctuary at the church, which is in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood.

"It's unfortunate we have to do this. This church has other priorities, like helping the poor in this neighborhood," the Rev. Walter Coleman said. "But God didn't give us a choice. When God says do this, we say, 'Yes, sir!'"

Coleman complained that the push for immigration reform has stalled, saying even sympathetic politicians have put the sensitive issue on the back burner.

"So what are we supposed to do?" he said. "Who's moving this movement forward? It's not moving forward."

Crisostomo, who spoke through a translator, said she left Iguala Guerrero, Mexico, after she was unable to find a job that would allow her to buy enough food for her two boys and one girl, ages 9 to 14.

In July 2000 she paid a smuggler to take her across the border and spent three days lost in desert-like conditions before making it to Los Angeles, she said. A month later she arrived in Chicago, where she worked 10 hours a day, six days a week in an IFCO Systems site that made packing materials.

By last year, she earned about $360 a week, sending $300 to her children for food, clothes and school books, she said. To keep her own costs down, she lived with four other women in a two-bedroom Chicago apartment.

"My children's lives improve a lot as a result," she said. "It wasn't luxury. But it meant they could survive."

Immigration authorities raided more than 40 IFCO sites in the U.S. in 2006 and arrested Crisostomo, along with more than 1,100 other people. The Board of Immigration Appeals last year denied Crisostomo's appeal and told her to leave the United States by Monday.

Crisostomo said she didn't know how long she would stay in the church, adding that she would keep busy by lobbying via phone, e-mails and letters on behalf of millions of illegal immigrants. The apartment, which is maintained by the church, includes a bedroom, office area and living room.

Groups opposed to illegal immigration say the case is a direct challenge to federal authorities.

"It will give American citizens a great opportunity to see if Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is good at his word on strict immigration enforcement," said Rosanna Pulido, a spokeswoman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates tougher immigration enforcement.

The move to re-create the same sanctuary situation as Arellano will backfire, Pulido said.

"This tactic is ineffective," she said. "This is creating more outrage, more bad feelings toward our government and toward people who are aiding and abetting illegals."

The judicial process had given Crisostomo more than enough time to comply with U.S. law following her arrest two years ago, the Chicago office of the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Monday.

"If Ms. Crisostomo does not comply with the immigration judge's order by tonight, she will become an immigration fugitive," the statement said.

But Crisostomo said she believes immigration authorities would not dare storm a house of worship to grab her.

"I hope they don't come for me," she said. "I hope they fear God enough."

http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/n ... st.Church/[/b]

How ironic. She couldn't earn enough money in Mexico to put food on the table but yet she was able to pay a coyote to smuggle her across the border. I believe the going rate for the coyote is around $3000.

Why is it that I have a hard time believing anything that comes out of the mouth of an illegal invader. I bet this woman has a 6th grade education at best since she was already popping out babies by the age of 14.

This is typical of what's entering our country illegally on a daily basis.

FOX news actually reported on this this morning....of course they two sides of the story, one person saying she is breaking the law and need to be deported, and the church is now doing more than ust helping some poor person.

The other went into the sob story about this gril has 3 children to support..BLAH BLAH BLAH!!! you know the rest, same old crap.

added to the homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article2909.html

I don't lose any sleep over this. The woman has basically put herself in prison. The church is her prison and the congregation is force to pay her room and board.

Let her stay in her prison of choice.

I would like to see the federal govt. notofy the church, they are in violation of federal law. Fine the church and it's leadership.

has the biotch been arrested yet?????

" I believe in my heart that the United States and Mexico have to end this system of undocumented labor".....???????????????

Yes, that's why we are enforcing our laws and deporting people like Elvira and you and 43 states have passed laws to make it easier as well.

No, and I don't know what the heck they're waiting for...


http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-100800.html