Thread: As boy heads to D.C., mother keeps the faith

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opin ... mnists-utl

As boy heads to D.C., mother keeps the faith
Mary Schmich


October 4, 2006

Elvira Arellano was fasting Tuesday, and it wasn't a media stunt.

She might not even have mentioned it if I hadn't shown up without warning at Adalberto United Methodist Church in Humboldt Park and asked one of those hard-hitting reporter questions: What do you usually eat for breakfast?

Usually, she said, sitting in a dim second-floor room, with a cell phone clipped on her green sweat pants, it's a ham and butter sandwich.

But not Tuesday. Her 7-year-old son, Saul, was on his way to the White House to deliver a letter asking the president not to deport her. Fasting was a form of prayer.

It's been seven weeks since Arellano took sanctuary in this storefront church next to the Salon de Belleza Puerto Rico on Division Street.

August has shaded into October, and she sometimes turns on the space heater in the tiny bedroom where she and her son share a single bed. She caught bronchitis but is almost well again. She sews, answers e-mail on her laptop.

Does she get bored?

"Never," she said, in Spanish.

Sad?

"Sometimes, yes." But only for a moment, she said brightly. She tells herself to be positive. "But yes, sometimes sad."

When she gets sad, it's when she thinks about her son Saul--Saulito--and the possibility that she will be forced back to her homeland of Mexico. She wants him to have a life here, in his homeland.

While they've been living in this apartment that also serves as the pastor's office and an AA meeting room, Saul entered 2nd grade. He is learning how to multiply and to read, in English.

He owns a new little beige suit, for interviews. He has worn it from California to Miami and this week to Washington.

"Where are you?" he asked when he talked to his mother by phone Monday night. "What are you doing? How is Daisy?" Daisy is their dog, a mix of Chihuahua and mini-Doberman.

It's a strange life for a kid, this celebrity and insecurity. But Saul's life hasn't been normal since 2002 when his mother, deported once before, was arrested for working at O'Hare with a false Social Security number and ordered out of the U.S.

By now, Arellano said, the media are just part of their lives, like the eternal twilight in this room.

Arellano never goes farther outside than the back porch; from it she can see the Boys and Girls Club where Saul had made new friends. One of her friends begged her to come to his wedding. He'd disguise her, he said, smuggle her in his car. No one who might tell would know.

"God would know," she said.
She doesn't get lonely, or at least she's never alone. The phone or the door buzzes most days by 8 a.m.

Reporters are rare these days, but supporters come, and students, from DePaul, UIC, Columbia, Truman. Many are the children of Arab, African, Asian and Latino immigrants. They're working on papers and documentaries.

"I'm always willing to talk," Arellano said. "I never say no."

On Tuesday, a group of Florida activists arrived shortly after I did. Then a neighborhood photographer who wanted her portrait for an art exhibit.

A man in a CTA uniform popped in. He'd just come back from a Denver transit union conference; they'd taken a collection for her.

Goodwill sustains Arellano. The nearby laundry does her wash for free. Supporters donated a microwave and refrigerator and painted the bathroom. Friends cook.

But even some undocumented immigrants wish she'd go away. By being so visible, they think, she makes them vulnerable.

"They're not in my situation," she said. "When someone's in a position to be deported, their thinking is different. Any mother would do the same as me."

A couple of minutes later, the phone rang. Saul. He was outside the White House.

"Ah, wow!" said Arellano. "Que bueno, Saulito!"

When she hung up, she and her visitors held hands in a circle and prayed.

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mschmich@tribune.com

When she gets sad, it's when she thinks about her son Saul--Saulito--and the possibility that she will be forced back to her homeland of Mexico. She wants him to have a life here, in his homeland.

Then maybe she should have obeyed the law and come here LEGALLY. What the woman WANTS is immaterial, and I think that it's an abomination that her worthless scofflaw arse is still on American soil. This is a nation of laws. Or at least it is a nation of laws when a real American breaks one. The rest of the time it seems pretty much anything goes.

Every time I see one of these articles on this ding a ling I think of the one and only Elvira ahhhh the Mistress of the Dark and it's all most time for Halloween.

CELL PHONE?

Guess she's pretty well taken care of while spitting on our laws and holding off the MOST POWERFUL GOVERNMENT IN THE WORLD.

Think about this....she's holding off the USA.

Laptop too.
I'm not hearing about her in the news out here. Seems to be mainly just in Chicago now. Anyone else hearing about her away from Chicago?

Charlesoakisland: ever since I heard her name I thought of the same Elvira that you mentioned.
Now with her son gone is an excellant opprotunity for ICE to get her and the son can be picked up in DC and both can be reunited on the one way fight to Mexico. If they could get the SWAT team to get Elian Gonzalez so he can be sent back to Cuba then they could get them to get Elvira in the church.

Saulito is no more American than I am Mexican..... how phony can you get?

This was posted on my town site. Anyone hear about this latest 'protest.' Teachers are gonna love to hear this...


penguin40
Advanced Member
1107 Posts
Posted - 10/04/2006 : 22:42:16
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Did you guys see the news this evening on this boy? I was watching channel 2 at 10 and they interviewed the boy when he got back into Chicago. They asked him what he will do if he gets no answer from the President, and he said they are trying to get all the kids of illegal parents to go there as a group in about 2 weeks! Great just what we need is for kids to miss more school...

Hey I got an idea! Why not get all the illegal parents into the church and while they're there-TEACH THEM ENGLISH!! What a concept! What is this woman doing all day anyway?? Obviously not working as a certain someone says they do....

Under current events

penguin40
Advanced Member



1107 Posts
Posted - 10/04/2006 : 22:42:16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did you guys see the news this evening on this boy? I was watching channel 2 at 10 and they interviewed the boy when he got back into Chicago. They asked him what he will do if he gets no answer from the President, and he said they are trying to get all the kids of illegal parents to go there as a group in about 2 weeks! Great just what we need is for kids to miss more school...

Hey I got an idea! Why not get all the illegal parents into the church and while they're there-TEACH THEM ENGLISH!! What a concept! What is this woman doing all day anyway?? Obviously not working as a certain someone says they do....

"God would know," she (Elvira) said.

Isn't it funny how these criminals invoke God's name, after-the-fact. God knows she is breaking our laws now; God knew when she crossed the border illegally, twice; God knew when she was using someone else's social security #; God knows that she is abusing her child using him to benefit her own selfish wishes. Did she say, "God would know," when she was breaking all of these laws? Absolutely not.

Scripture does not give us a choice on which laws we can abide by. This "pastor" is a disgrace.

Even with the national spotlight on her, she still doesn't even make an effort to speak English. No effort to appear like she is trying to assimilate at all.

Think about it folks, she has basically come to America and decided to "hold us hostage" until she gets her demands. How crazy is this story?

D.W.