Thread: (Illegal)Immigrant mom fears raid imminent

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1889 ... 06.article

(Illegal) Immigrant mom fears raid imminent

December 27, 2006
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Members of a storefront church said Wednesday they fear U.S. authorities plan to raid their building and arrest an illegal immigrant who has taken refuge there.

Adalberto United Methodist Church has sheltered Elvira Arellano and her 8-year-old son, Saul, since August. Arellano sought sanctuary at the West Side church after she was ordered deported, saying she didn't want to be separated from her son, a U.S. citizen.

The Rev. Walter Coleman said neighborhood residents reported seeing U.S. marshals taking photos of the church Tuesday night. But Mark Gregoline, deputy U.S. marshal for northern Illinois, said Wednesday that his agency is not involved in the case.

Phone and e-mail messages left after hours Wednesday for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman were not immediately returned. Officials at the agency have said there is nothing to prevent them from arresting Arellano.

Church members -- who keep the glass doors chained and covered with heavy curtains -- said they will resume a 24-hour vigil that includes prayer and standing watch at windows and doors and from the rooftop.

They said the recent multistate raids at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants and the arrest two weeks ago of Martin Barrios, a Berwyn factory worker who'd been featured in a Chicago Sun-Times article, made them even more fearful for Arellano.

''To carry out these raids in this holy season, separating families who have no criminal records, who have done nothing wrong, who have been workers and taxpayers and whose children are U.S. citizens ... for that to happen now is inexplicable to me,'' Coleman said.

Coleman said church members wouldn't resist in the event of a raid.

''We are going to pray; that is the only weapon we have,'' he said.

Arellano is a former cleaning woman at O'Hare International Airport convicted of using a false Social Security number.

The church has asked the Bush administration to suspend deportation of illegal immigrants with U.S.-born children until Congress passes an immigration reform bill. In November, Saul Arellano traveled to Mexico and successfully lobbied its Chamber of Deputies to call on the U.S. Congress to suspend such deportations.

Originally Posted by Crusader01

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/188909,elvira122706.article

(Illegal) Immigrant mom fears raid imminent
''To carry out these raids in this holy season, separating families who have no criminal records, who have done nothing wrong, who have been workers and taxpayers and whose children are U.S. citizens ... for that to happen now is inexplicable to me,'' Coleman said.

NO CRIMINAL RECORD! what about the little fact about entering a country against its immigration laws .... x2 ... oh yeah, then that little thing about stealing a citizens identity... a couple times.

She should be scared....all the way on the flight back to Mexico, or wherever she is from.

SHE put HERSELF at risk. SHE screwed up HER SON's life, not you or me.

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

Arrest the B**** and send her son along with her. The kid should be with her mom, in her own country.

Sending her back to her home country would be the perfect end to this year! She can celebrate New Years Day in her home country.

Originally Posted by Mayday

Sending her back to her home country would be the perfect end to this year! She can celebrate New Years Day in her home country.

Sounds good to me.

She deserves to be kicked out of this country more than anyone. I hope that she is never given an opportunity to ever return here if they do deport her.

They should start 2007 off right by deporting her and the son she is exploiting.

The Rev. Walter Coleman said neighborhood residents reported seeing U.S. marshals taking photos of the church Tuesday night. But Mark Gregoline, deputy U.S. marshal for northern Illinois, said Wednesday that his agency is not involved in the case.

Then who was taking photos?

Someone isn't sleeping very well tonight.

Jeanwrote:

Then who was taking photos? Someone isn't sleeping very well tonight.

.......and I bet she is keeping that guard dog close as well.....

Arrest the whole congregation for,,,,AIDING AND ABETTING A FUGITIVE, HARBORING A WANTED FELON, and INTERFERING WITH JUSTICE>!