Jump to content

108 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

Filed: Country: Belarus
Timeline
Posted

Immigration activist deported, Chicago pastor says

By PETER PRENGAMAN

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — An immigration activist who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year to avoid being separated from her son has been deported to Mexico, the church's pastor said.

Elvira Arellano was arrested Sunday afternoon outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church in Los Angeles. She was deported several hours later, said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, where Arellano had taken refuge.

"She has been deported. She is free and in Tijuana," said Coleman, who said he spoke to her on the phone. "She is in good spirits. She is ready to continue the struggle against the separation of families from the other side of the border."

A message left with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials late Sunday was not immediately returned.

Arellano, 32, became a symbol of the struggles of illegal immigrant parents when she took refuge in the church to avoid being separated from her 8-year-old son Saul, who was born in the U.S. and is thus a citizen.

She had said Saturday she was not afraid of being taken into custody by immigration agents.

"From the time I took sanctuary the possibility has existed that they arrest me in the place and time they want," she said in Spanish. "I only have two choices. I either go to my country, Mexico, or stay and keep fighting. I decided to stay and fight."

Arellano came to Washington state illegally 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 convicted of working under a false Social Security number. She was to surrender to authorities last August.

She sought refuge at the storefront church on Chicago's West Side on Aug. 15, 2006. She had not left the church property until she decided to travel by car to Los Angeles, Coleman said.

Coleman said Arellano had brought to light her struggle, and for that, "she has won a victory."

Immigration activists responded with anger to her arrest, and promised protests and vigils to support her.

"We are sad, but at the same time we are angry," said Javier Rodriguez, a Chicago immigration activist who worked with Arellano. "How dare they arrest this woman?"

Anti-illegal immigrant groups said the arrest was long overdue.

"Just because the woman has gone public and made an issue of the fact that she is defying law doesn't mean the government doesn't have to do its job," said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors limits on immigration.

Arellano has repeatedly called for a stop to immigration raids that break up families with some members who are in the U.S. legally and others illegally.

Emma Lozano, Coleman's wife and head of immigration rights group Centro Sin Fronteras in Chicago, said she was Saul's legal guardian. At an afternoon press conference in Los Angeles, the boy hid behind Lozano and wiped away tears.

"He's taking it better than we thought he would," Lozano said.

While being arrested, Arellano spoke briefly with her son before submitting to authorities, Lozano said.

"She calmed him down, hugged him and gave him a blessing," said Lozano.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...on/5067498.html

"Credibility in immigration policy can be summed up in one sentence: Those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave."

"...for the system to be credible, people actually have to be deported at the end of the process."

US Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-TX)

Testimony to the House Immigration Subcommittee, February 24, 1995

  • Replies 107
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Egypt
Timeline
Posted

Hasta la Vista........BABY!

Don't just open your mouth and prove yourself a fool....put it in writing.

It gets harder the more you know. Because the more you find out, the uglier everything seems.

kodasmall3.jpg

Posted
but why can;t she take her son with her? That I don't get....

I don't either. I guess she wanted him to stay here for some reason. I do feel bad for the boy, but I'm not sure what other result she could have possibly been expecting.

SA4userbar.jpg
Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Egypt
Timeline
Posted

Maybe Baghdad Cindy can suggest some pristine ditches in her area..... :whistle:

Don't just open your mouth and prove yourself a fool....put it in writing.

It gets harder the more you know. Because the more you find out, the uglier everything seems.

kodasmall3.jpg

Posted (edited)

i still fail to understand why ppl are sympathetic to her... she had already been deported once when she came again and got pregnant... she cant claim ignorance of the laws of this country... she KNEW she could be deported before she had her son... but she came here anyway... and for her to be making such a big deal about her cause being about separation from her son, it just smacks of her wanting to solely have an anchor baby

i just dont get it

Edited by keltic

"True love is falling in love with your best friend,

and only then, will you find the meaning of happiness."

tony_1.gif

Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Mexico
Timeline
Posted
but why can;t she take her son with her? That I don't get....

She CAN take her son with her. Leaving him in the US was her choice.

Keltic, if you read the papers, there's not much sympathy for her. In Chicago the general consensus appears to be that she acted like she was special or different and she used her son as a pawn.

Posted

no joy from me,...seeing a mother and son seperated...even if it is by the mother's choice

Peace to All creatures great and small............................................

But when we turn to the Hebrew literature, we do not find such jokes about the donkey. Rather the animal is known for its strength and its loyalty to its master (Genesis 49:14; Numbers 22:30).

Peppi_drinking_beer.jpg

my burro, bosco ..enjoying a beer in almaty

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...st&id=10835

Filed: Timeline
Posted
no joy from me,...seeing a mother and son seperated...even if it is by the mother's choice

Deano, I don't think anyone here is celebrating the separation....speaking for myself only, I'm celebrating the justice of the deportation. She was free to take him with her...and the onus is clearly on her for leaving her child.

Posted
no joy from me,...seeing a mother and son seperated...even if it is by the mother's choice

Deano, I don't think anyone here is celebrating the separation....speaking for myself only, I'm celebrating the justice of the deportation. She was free to take him with her...and the onus is clearly on her for leaving her child.

i agree.. just a personal thing for me ....my son's mother disappeared when he was 9 months old and he seen her 1 x in his life..and that was enough..

Peace to All creatures great and small............................................

But when we turn to the Hebrew literature, we do not find such jokes about the donkey. Rather the animal is known for its strength and its loyalty to its master (Genesis 49:14; Numbers 22:30).

Peppi_drinking_beer.jpg

my burro, bosco ..enjoying a beer in almaty

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...st&id=10835

Posted
Keltic, if you read the papers, there's not much sympathy for her. In Chicago the general consensus appears to be that she acted like she was special or different and she used her son as a pawn.

Immigration activists responded with anger to her arrest, and promised protests and vigils to support her.

"We are sad, but at the same time we are angry," said Javier Rodriguez, a Chicago immigration activist who worked with Arellano. "How dare they arrest this woman?"

i do read

there is also support for her here at vj

there is no joy for me that her child is now separated from his mother... this woman made her choices and now she is facing the consequences, despite her thinking her sons status could prevent it... and her son is having to face those consequences, through no fault of his own

i agree.. just a personal thing for me ....my son's mother disappeared when he was 9 months old and he seen her 1 x in his life..and that was enough..

im sorry that you & your son had to face that... im sure that you have given him all the love he needs to help him

"True love is falling in love with your best friend,

and only then, will you find the meaning of happiness."

tony_1.gif

 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
- Back to Top -

Important Disclaimer: Please read carefully the Visajourney.com Terms of Service. If you do not agree to the Terms of Service you should not access or view any page (including this page) on VisaJourney.com. Answers and comments provided on Visajourney.com Forums are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Visajourney.com does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. VisaJourney.com does not condone immigration fraud in any way, shape or manner. VisaJourney.com recommends that if any member or user knows directly of someone involved in fraudulent or illegal activity, that they report such activity directly to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. You can contact ICE via email at Immigration.Reply@dhs.gov or you can telephone ICE at 1-866-347-2423. All reported threads/posts containing reference to immigration fraud or illegal activities will be removed from this board. If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by contacting us here with a url link to that content. Thank you.
×
×
  • Create New...