Obama: Arellano's plight shows 'broken immigration system'
by Christi Parsons

Barack Obama says he doesn't approve of activist Elvira Arellano's defiance of U.S. immigration law, but he argues that her situation illustrates the problems of the current system and calls for immediate legal reform.

Obama met late last year in his Senate office to talk about immigration reform with Arellano, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who took refuge in a Humboldt Park church for a year to avoid deportation.

Since her deportation over the weekend, Arellano has been in Tijuana trying to figure out whether her son -- who has lived most of his life in Chicago -- will stay with her in Mexico or return to Illinois.

"I’ve met with Elvira Arellano and her son, and I understand the challenges that they and millions of other undocumented immigrants face," Obama says in a new written statement about the activist.

"Although I do not condone Ms. Arellano’s defiance of the law, her plight is representative of a broken immigration system," he said. "We need comprehensive immigration reform that creates a system that is fair, consistent, compassionate, and emphasizes both maintaining the rule of law and the security of our borders while working to keep families
together."

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/polit ... ows_b.html

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