Thread: Arellano plans a press conference at La Placita Church

CHICAGO, Aug. 18, 2007
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(AP)



(AP) For the first time in a year, an illegal immigrant who took refuge in a church to avoid deportation has left the sanctuary to attend an immigration rights rally in Los Angeles.

Elvira Arellano left the church for the first time since seeking sanctuary there Aug. 15, 2006, and was traveling to California by car Friday, said Emma Lozano, head of immigration rights group Centro Sin Fronteras.

Arellano is accompanied by people close to her, Lozano said, including the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church where she and her son have lived for more than a year.

Lozano, who is in Los Angeles, declined to say whether Arellano's 8-year-old son, Saul, is with her.

She also declined to give specifics about when Arellano left the storefront church on Chicago's West Side, but Arellano's last public appearance there was Wednesday, when she announced plans to travel next month to Washington, D.C., in what many expected to be her first venture from the church.

"She's not alone and she's got a lot of company and on her way," Lozano said Friday night. "And she'll be here tomorrow, so we're really looking forward to that."

The Los Angeles march is set for Saturday morning. Arellano plans a press conference at La Placita, which Lozano described as a prominent Catholic church.

A message seeking comment was left late Friday night with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

On Wednesday, Arellano announced she would travel to Washington, D.C., to lobby for immigration reform and participate in a prayer meeting Sept. 12.

Lozano said those plans haven't changed.

Arellano came illegally to the United States to Washington state in 1997. She was deported to Mexico shortly after, but returned and moved to Illinois in 2000, taking 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 to avoid deportation and separation from her son, who is a U.S. citizen.

The 32-year-old has since become an international symbol of the struggles of illegal immigrant parents and a source of controversy, praised for her steadfastness and criticized as a scofflaw.



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/ ... 0917.shtml

Maybe if the big news medias start reporting on Elvira it will expose DHS & ICE's dismal record on deporting crimnal Illegal aliens.

This is a travesty! Each time this criminal illegal alien brazenly mocks our government, it is a slap in the face for all legal citizens. How dare she have the audacity to not only leave her church sanctuary, but to travel unfettered to another state.

The mere fact that she and her cohorts feel comfortable enough to announce her itinerary is a glaring indication of the ineptitude of ICE and DHS.

I sent the following email:

Sir:

IT'S TIME TO PICK THIS ILLEGAL ALIEN UP. PLEASE DO YOUR JOB AND FIND HER.

This woman was DEPORTED and RETURNED. According to federal law, this MAKES HER A FELON.

/s/

I then pasted the above article to the email and sent it to:

AskDOJ@usdoj.gov.

http://www.usdoj.gov/contact-us.html

Next I called I.C.E.:

Field Office Director, Los Angeles
300 North Los Angeles St., Room 7631A
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: 213-830-7911
Area of Responsibility: Central California

Today is Saturday so I had to leave a message. PLEASE CALL. Lets fill their messagebox over the weekend.