Aztlan-Network-News Blog: News Articles on Elvira Arellano: Sunday, August 19, 2007

News Articles on Elvira Arellano: Sunday, August 19, 2007

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http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/08/19/news/doc46c9115615ba1623449146.txt

Immigration activist arrested in L.A., to be deported

By Peter Prengaman / Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES -- An illegal immigrant who stayed in a Chicago church for a year to avoid separation from her 8-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, was arrested Sunday and being processed for deportation.

Elvira Arellano, who arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday after leaving her sanctuary to campaign for immigration reform, was arrested around 1:30 p.m. outside Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church where she had been speaking to reporters, said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist, the Chicago church.

Arellano was "being processed for removal to Mexico based upon a deportation order originally issued by a federal immigration judge in 1997," U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a news release.

Immigration activists 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 her. "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, 32, has become a symbol of the struggles of illegal immigrant parents and a source of controversy. 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."

At an afternoon news conference in Los Angeles, Arellano's son, Saul, hid behind Coleman's wife, Emma Lozano, and wiped away tears. Lozano said she is the boy's legal guardian.

"He's taking it better than we thought he would," said Lozano, the head of an immigration rights group in Chicago.

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 Aug. 15, 2006. She had not left the church property until deciding to be driven to Los Angeles, Coleman said.

As news of her arrest spread Sunday, members of the Chicago church began arriving to pray.

"People will be sad about what happened to Elvira," said Catherine Archibald, a member of the congregation and a friend of Elvira's. "But I think it is very important now that we mobilize and push even harder."

Associated Press writers Michael Tarm in Chicago and Raquel Maria Dillon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_6665267

Immigration activist who sought sanctuary arrested in L.A.

By Peter Prengaman

Article Launched: 08/19/2007 04:57:16 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) - An illegal immigrant who became the face of the immigration reform movement while taking refuge in a Chicago church to avoid deportation has been arrested, the church's pastor said.

Elvira Arellano was arrested before 3 p.m. outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church on L.A.'s historic Olvera Street, where she had been speaking to reporters, said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago.

Coleman said he was with Arellano when she was detained, but declined to provide other details. "We're trying to determine her situation right now," he said.

It was unclear what law enforcement agency had taken Arellano into custody. A call to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not immediately returned.

"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?"

The 32-year-old Arellano had arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday, leaving her sanctuary for the first time in a year to campaign for immigration reform.

Her decision to take sanctuary inspired a "New Sanctuary Movement," in which a handful of churches across the country have begun to house illegal immigrants.

Arellano said she was staying in the United States illegally because of her 8-year-old son, Saul, who was born in America and thus a U.S. citizen. She has repeatedly called for a stop to immigration raids that break up "mixed families," that is families that have some members with legal status and others who are in the country illegally.

Arellano said Saturday she was not afraid of being taken into custody by immigration agents. She said she planned to take her cause to Washington, D.C.

"From the time I took sanctuary the possibility has existed that they arrest me in the place and time they want," Arellano 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."

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.

She sought sanctuary at the storefront church on Chicago's West Side Aug. 15, 2006. She had not left the church property until deciding to be driven to Los Angeles, Coleman said.

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Associated Press writers Michael Tarm in Chicago and Raquel Maria Dillon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/516584,arellanob081907.article

August 19, 2007

Arellano turns up in L.A.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT | Says she doesn't fear arrest on 1st trip away from sanctuary

BY ROBERT JABLON Associate Press

LOS ANGELES -- An illegal immigrant who avoided deportation by living in a Chicago church said Saturday she is not afraid of being taken into custody on her first trip outside the sanctuary in a year.

Elvira Arellano spoke at a downtown Los Angeles church as her 8-year-old son Saul, a U.S. citizen, participated in a small rally a few miles away at City Hall.

''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.''

Congress failed to pass immigration reform legislation in its last session. Arellano and activists want lawmakers to place a moratorium on deportations and hammer out reforms that would allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the country, at least temporarily.

''We cannot wait for another election,'' she said. ''We can't wait, sitting with our arms crossed, while our families are being separated.''

The 32-year-old and her son took refuge last year at Chicago's Adalberto United Methodist Church. Arellano said she didn't want to be separated from the boy, who was born in the United States.

She has since become a symbol of the struggles of illegal immigrant parents and a source of controversy, praised for her steadfastness and criticized as a scofflaw.

She spoke at La Placita, a historic Catholic church near the Mexican-themed Olvera Street, which has joined other churches nationwide in declaring itself a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. The movement is largely symbolic since immigration agents are not legally barred from making arrests in churches.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials declined to comment, but uniformed agents did not appear to be present at the church or rally.

Local church officials said Arellano planned to visit and pray today with the families of four illegal immigrants living in churches in Los Angeles, then head back east.

The Rev. Richard Estrada, associate pastor at La Placita, also known as Our Lady Queen of Angels, said Arellano could serve as an inspiration and bolster the spirits of the four families living in three Los Angeles area churches.

"There's a message of hope she's passing on,'' Estrada told the Sun-Times. "While she's here, we wanted her to speak to them."

Although hopeful about the movement's ability to protect Arellano and the other illegal immigrants, Estrada worries immigration agents could come at any time.

"There's a concern," he said.

From Los Angeles, Arellano planned on heading to Washington, D.C., to take part in a Sept. 12 prayer meeting and rally for immigration reform at the Capitol.

''I will go and pray and fast in front of the Congress,'' Arellano said. ''I will go with my Bible and my son, and I will read to him from the Holy Scriptures as I do every day.

''If this government would arrest me and separate me from my son, let them do it in front of the men and women who have the responsibility to fix this broken law and uphold the principles of human dignity.''

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 but instead sought sanctuary at the Chicago church on Aug. 15, 2006. The Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto, said Arellano had not left church property before driving to Los Angeles.

Contributing: Dan Rozek

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