Thread: Fugitive Felon Leaving

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... ?track=rss

By SOPHIA TAREEN | Associated Press Writer
11:20 PM CDT, August 14, 2007
CHICAGO - The smell of basil and spinach fills the kitchen on the second floor of the church Elvira Arellano and her son call home.

A family friend teaches 8-year-old Saul to play chess on the carpet of the living room steps away from where Arellano tends to the green concoction slow-cooking on the stove.

The recipe came from a friend, the fresh ingredients from Aldalberto United Methodist Church's small fenced-in garden, the one place Arellano -- an illegal immigrant from Mexico -- has been able to enjoy the outdoors since seeking sanctuary at the church on Aug. 15, 2006.
But Arellano says that's about to change.

The woman who has become an international symbol for the struggles of illegal immigrant parents says she plans to venture beyond the well-worn walls of the church on Chicago's West Side for the first time since taking refuge to avoid deportation and separation from her son, who is a U.S. citizen.

Arellano planned to formally announce Wednesday a Sept. 12 trip to Washington D.C. during which she plans to lobby Congress for immigration reform, according to the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of the church and longtime Chicago political activist.

It's not clear how she'll get there, but she likely won't be flying, Coleman told The Associated Press Tuesday. He and others worry Arellano will be arrested, but she plans to go anyway.

"I will go with by Bible and my son and I will read to him from the Holy Scriptures as I do everyday," Arellano said in a statement sent Tuesday to The AP. "If this government would 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."

Whether Arellano will continue her sanctuary at the church, sandwiched between a beauty salon and bank in the city's predominantly Puerto Rican Humbolt Park neighborhood, also is unclear.

The 32-year-old says she has been too comfortable there and needs to "join the struggle" outside.

In the past year, Arellano has reignited an interest in a sanctuary movement across the U.S., gaining fame for her continued public defiance and her belief that the U.S. knowingly exploits illegal immigrants.

But she's also drawn criticism from many who say she is part of highly orchestrated movement and exploits her U.S.-born son by having him speak at press conferences.

There is no doubt, however, of her reach.

"She's a household figure at this point and her story is well known because people can relate to it," said Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who compares Arellano to Rosa Parks.

Arellano came illegally to the U.S. to Washington state in 1997. She was deported shortly thereafter, but returned and worked different jobs, including childcare. She moved to Illinois in 2000 because she had friends in the Chicago area and took a job cleaning planes at O'Hare International Airport.

She was arrested in 2002 at O'Hare and later convicted of working under a false Social Security number. She was to surrender to authorities last August, but asked instead to take refuge at her church.

She has gone on hunger strikes, written dozens of letters, sent her son with other activists to Mexico and Washington D.C. to talk with legislators and conducted hundreds of interviews with reporters across the globe.

But she says doesn't consider herself a symbol.

"I am a single mother who has a child who's an American citizen," she said recently, speaking in Spanish.

Arellano said she didn't know she would be in sanctuary this long and considers her past year a success.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... e&ctrack=1

AP Newsbreak: Chicago immigration activist to leave church refuge
By SOPHIA TAREEN | Associated Press Writer
11:20 PM CDT, August 14, 2007
CHICAGO - "I am thankful to God and the church and the support I received," she said.

The support has come in the form of letters from California to Iowa, impassioned speeches from other religious leaders including some from the Nation of Islam and even $20 bills from people who've heard her story.

Her activism also has come under sharp scrutiny, the most vocal from the Illinois Minutemen Project.
"She was working on O'Hare. I have to take off my shoes and here people like her are working on the other side. This is insane. Obviously she has no respect for our laws," said Rosanna Pulido, spokeswoman for the Minutemen. "That's, as far as I'm concerned, a threat to our national security."

Pulido also has called the immigration activists surrounding Arellano a "cast of Hollywood characters" and criticized Arellano for not speaking fluent English.

Arellano has heard it all before.

"There is always going to be criticism," she said. She calls comments about immigrants being criminals "the face of racism."

Arellano said she has a simple goal: to stay with Saul, who she said should be guaranteed rights as an American citizen.

"He knows this as his country," she said.

She said her son is happy, always has had the choice to be involved in her activism and that she is doing her job as a mother by spending time with him, raising him and keeping him in his school.

Arellano also acknowledged her decision to live at the church has come with sacrifices. She said she can't take Saul for after-school activities or pick up his report card. The family has no contact with Saul's father.

There have been times when she has feared for her and Saul's safety. On top of the television where Saul watches "SpongeBob SquarePants" while he plays with wrestling figures is a small security camera, monitoring the perimeters of the church.

In December, neighborhood residents said they saw U.S. marshals taking photos of the church. Federal agents denied the allegations, but immigration activists took up 24-hour vigils outside.

Arellano has no formal case pending for legal immigration and although she has an attorney, said she is looking for one answer.

"I'm hoping for an immigration bill to pass, " she said, stressing the importance of lobbying lawmakers in Washington D.C.

Arellano knows she could be arrested during next month's planned trip. But if that happens, she said, "they'd find me praying."

Something sneaky is up with this. If they arrest her, will that be their excuse for the widespread violence they've been implying and threatening over the past couple of weeks?

I THINK SHE REALIZES AT THIS POINT THAT ICE IS JUST GOING TO LET HER SIT THERE FOREVER. SHE IS LOOKING TO GET ARRESTED TO MAKE USA LOOK BAD.

SHE THOUGHT THEY WOULD COME AND GET HER AT THE CHURCH. THIS WOULD MAKE USA LOOK VERY BAD BECAUSE NOT ONLY WOULD THEY BE SEPARATING HER FROM HER SON, BUT THEY WOULD BE DOING IT IN A CHURCH.

SO HER NEXT MOVE IS TO VENTURE OUT WHERE SHE MIGHT BE ARRESTED SO SHE CAN SAY "LOOK HOW BAD THIS COUNTRY IS....LOOK HOW MEAN THEY ARE"

BET SHE IS SICK OF SITTING IN THAT CHURCH. I THINK THEY SHOULD JUST GO ARREST HER AND SEND HER AND HER SON BACK. AND TO HEC WITH IT. IF THEY WOULD HAVE DONE THAT ON DAY ONE, SHE WOULD BE FORGOTTEN BY NOW.

"I will go with by Bible and my son and I will read to him from the Holy Scriptures as I do everyday,"

So she's gonna read to him from the Holy Scriptures. How sweet. I wonder if she'll teach him not to lie, like she did using forged documents and a stolen Social Security number to get a job? Or maybe she'll teach him about not tresspassing against thou neighbor, like she did in crossing the border illegally, even after being deported? Or maybe she'll teach him about not having a child out of wedlock, like she did with him, to make herself an anchor baby, who has no idea who his father even is as she won't name him or say if they were ever even married?

What a wonderful example of biblical teachings and morals she is for her little anchor baby.

Arellano said she didn't know she would be in sanctuary this long and considers her past year a success


Alot of criminals would call having every need met by others, bills paid, free child care, internet, blah, blah a success as well....

If ICE doesn't pick up and deport this woman, then everything Chertoff has said over the last few days about strict enforcement of our immigration laws is nothing but empty talk. Deport her and I will have faith that they(ICE) are sincere about enforcement.

ICE may have given the church a letter like other businesses.. the church then gave her an ultimatum, otherwise why would she leave??

..aside from the Bible, why not include the 'United States Laws' in your daily readings to your son, Elvira?

I wish they would arrest this felon on national TV.

I just made my DAILY call to the Chicago I.C.E. Ofc in Chicago (312-347-2400, Ext 2221). I requested she be picked up and also informed them of the Sept 12 trip.

I also sent an email to Chertoff as follows:

HSAScomments@fbi.gov

A MESSAGE FOR MICHAEL CHERTOFF:

Elvira Arellano has now been holed up in the Adalberto United Methodist Church @ 2716 W. Division St, Chicago, Ill., for 1 YEAR. That is long enough. It is time to take her out of there and deport her.

She is planning a trip to Washington D.C. on Sept 12th. The I.C.E. Office in Chicago has been informed of this trip. If MICHAEL CHERTOFF does not make sure she is picked up before she gets back to the church and get her deported, we will believe NOTHING ELSE HE SAYS.

The citizens and LEGAL immigrants of this country are getting tired of the havoc the illegals are causing. It's time to crack down in every possible way, so that attrition can do its job.

Please continue making calls to the I.C.E. Ofc and send Chertoff a message.

The Bible says -"Give unto God what is God's,,, give unto Ceasear what is Ceaser's"

It means the (Methodist ) church must obey the law of the land.

I am a Methodist, and I believe the clowns running that church just put a smear on it by their actions in this case.

I doubt they'll arrest her. They could have done that all along. There's no reason why they can't go into the church and get her. Clearly they have no intention of deporting this woman.

But they should.