http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary ... 6b.article

Another reason to fix immigration law

November 16, 2006
Poor little Saul Arellano, exhausted, afraid and whisked by strangers to both Washington and Mexico City so he could plead the cause of his mother, desperate to prevent her own deportation from the United States. What Elvira Arellano has done to her American-born son is shameful. Regardless of how you feel about the merits of her case, the use of her son in this way is selfish and irresponsible. How could a parent manipulate her 7-year-old son for her own ends?
Arellano is the Mexican woman who has been staying in a Humboldt Park church, seeking sanctuary. In 2003 she was swept up in a federal terrorist sting at O'Hare Airport that netted 45 illegal immigrants, including Arellano, who had been working as a cleaner using an illegal Social Security number. This wasn't her first brush with immigration officials. In 1997, she was stopped at the border and accused of carrying false ID. She sneaked back into the country some months later.

After the sting, she unsuccessfully fought her deportation in the courts. She says she doesn't want to take Saul back to Mexico because he might lose his English skills; nor does she want to leave him here with a guardian. Her arguments are specious. She could take him home and, as an adult, he could return to the United States as a citizen. Problem is there are thousands of Elvira Arellanos. That's why we need to fix our immigration laws. As soon as possible.