Elvira Arellano Arrested Outside Downtown Church
Arellano defied a deportation order to report to the Department of
Homeland Security on Aug. 15, 2006. Instead, she sought refuge in the Adalberto
United Methodist Church in the Humboldt Park area of Chicago.
According to the New Sanctuary Movement, more than 600,000 families in
the United States have at least one member facing deportation because they are
illegal residents.
Arellano claims she seeks to remain in the United States so her
American-born son can get medical care for his attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorder.
Arellano arrived in the U.S. in 1997 and was soon deported back to
Mexico. In 2000, she returned and moved to Illinois, working at Chicago's O'Hare
International Airport cleaning planes.
She was arrested in 2002 and later convicted of working under a false
Social Security number, prompting the order for her to be deported.
Being illegal means never having to say you're sorry. Even if it costs another their life. I mean, if you've broken the law, you're a victim. Right?
The average American cannot afford basic health care, if you believe the cynics, but those same cynics demand that we give our health care to those that break our laws.
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