Misplaced Pages

Elvira Arellano: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 05:06, 4 June 2007 editLordPathogen (talk | contribs)393 edits Added not for immigration violations but rather for being convicted of using a counterfeit Social Security card (felony http://www.law.cornell.edu) as per legal brief filed on behalf of Saul Arellano.← Previous edit Revision as of 13:33, 4 June 2007 edit undoEvrik (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers88,476 editsm →ReferencesNext edit →
Line 38: Line 38:
] ]
] ]
]
]

Revision as of 13:33, 4 June 2007

Elvira Arellano (born 1975) is a Mexican citizen living illegally in the United States who, facing deportation from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, took sanctuary in the Adalberto United Methodist Church, of Chicago in August 2006. As of June 2007 she has not been removed from the church. She is considered a fugitive by U.S. authorities. She is the president of La Familia Latina Unida (United Latino Family), a group that lobbies for families that could be split by deportation.

History

On August 23, 1997, Arellano arrived at the Calexico Port of Entry, attempting to enter the United States as a tourist using the name Sofia Escobar-Vela. She was denied permission to enter because she attempted to do so "by fraud or by willfully misrepresenting a material fact." An expedited removal proceeding was conducted, the result of which was that Arellano received a removal order and Notice to Alien Ordered Removed/Departure Verification forbidding her from"entering, attempting to enter, or being in the United States" for a period of 5 years. Arellano signed the removal order Danna Miranda-Barreto. Around August 30th, 1997, she returned to the United States illegally and lived for three years in Oregon where she met her son Saul's father.

On December 18, 1998 in Toppenish, Washington she gave birth to Saul Arellano. The whereabouts of Saul's father remain unknown since he abandoned Arellano three months into her pregnancy. Saul has never met his father and has no other relatives in the United States. He is now 7 years old and a United States citizen by virtue of having been born on United States soil. In 2000, she moved to Chicago and worked as an airplane cabin cleaner at O'Hare International Airport . In 2002, following a post-September 11 security sweep, she was arrested for using the Social Security number of an 82 year old woman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to obtain employment. Arellano signed a statement acknowledging her previous removal after which Immigration and Customs Enforcement gave her "an administrative warrant for her arrest based upon her prior removal and illegal reentry" as well as a "Notice of Intent/Decision to Reinstate Prior Order" in which ICE notified which informed her of their intent to reinstate her order of removal. She indicated on the forms that she did not wish to make a statement contesting this reinstatement. Arelano was then released with an order of supervision pending the outcome of her criminal trial. She was convicted of the Social Security charge and on March 20, 2003 was sentenced to three years probation that also included the conditions that if she is deported, she remains outside the United States unless the Attorney General of the United States grants her permission to enter and that she "comply with all directions of, and to provide truthful information to, her Immigration and Naturalization Service Officer." Around August 12, 2003 the Chicago office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent her a Form I-166 wherein it was stated she was "found deportable."

Due to health issues with her son, Arellano obtained support from the Illinois congressional delegation. On September 16, 2003, United States Representative Luis Gutierrez requested a deferral on her removal order by ICE. This was granted until February 16, 2004. On February 12, 2004, Arellano's attorney Chris Bergin asked for a 6 month extension of the administrative stay due to private bills filed in Congress on Arellano's behalf. ICE granted this and extended the administrative stay to August 16, 2004. On August 11, 2004, Mr. Bergin requested another stay, which was again granted by ICE changing her new removal date to August 16th, 2005. On July 29, 2005, Congressman Gutierrez requested an extension to the stay along with Senator Richard Durbin and Mr. Bergin. This was granted and Arellano's new removal date was set for August 12th, 2006. Finally, on July 14, 2006, Mr. Bergin requested another extension of the stay, however, this time ICE declined to do so since Congress had adjourned without approving any of the private bills filed on Arellano's behalf. Now that her son's condition has improved, Senators Richard Durbin and Barack Obama have stated there is nothing more they can do. . Hence, at 9 AM on August 15, 2006, Arellano was ordered to appear before immigration authorities . Instead, on that date she took refuge in the Adalberto United Methodist church in the Humboldt Park area of Chicago to avoid arrest and deportation.

Since entering the church she has been quite vocal, stating "if she is arrested on 'holy ground,' she 'will know that God wants me to be an example of the hatred and hypocrisy of the current policy of this government.'" By her own account, Arellano is confident stating "I didn’t allow them to deport me" and that she has community support for her actions.

On September 29th, 2006, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve dismissed a lawsuit filed on Saul Arellano's behalf by his mother's pastor, The Rev. Walter L. Coleman, wherein it was claimed that to deport her would violate the constitutional rights of her son, Saul. In her order, the judge wrote "The question before the court is whether that hardship is of constitutional magnitude -- under any construction of the alleged facts, it is not." She further stated "Saul will not suffer any injury to his constitutional right to remain in the United States."

On November 14, 2006 in Mexico City, Saul Arellano, appeared before the Congress of Mexico . The Mexican lawmakers passed a resolution to urge the United States government to suspend the deportation of Arellano and other parents of children who are United States citizens.

Impact

Arellano and her supporters assert that to deport her would be to violate the rights of her son Saul, a United States citizen, as he would be forced to be deported with her. According to Mexican Rep. Jose Jacques, there are "more than 4.9 million children who have been born in the United States and whose parents live under the threat of deportation." Critics of Arellano counter that she is exploiting her son in order to remain in the United States.

Latino advocates have highlighted this case as one of civil rights. Arellano's right of sanctuary and her right to stay in the United States has been taken up by civil rights groups such as National Alliance for Immigrants' Rights, NCLR, LULAC, among others. In support, La Placita, a historic Los Angeles church, declared itself a sanctuary for any undocumented immigrant facing deportation, something it did during the 1980's for the first refugees from war-ridden Guatemala and El Salvador who escaped to California. The U.S. government's position is that Arellano is free to take Saul with her to Mexico in order to keep her family together. U.S. Law does not recognize the right of sanctuary.

On May 3, 2007, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) introduced H.R. 2182, which would grant legal immigrant status, with the possibility of applying for permanent residence status, to Arellano as well as 33 other people. The bill was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary and (as of May 9th, 2007) has yet to move out of the committee.

See also

External Links

References

  1. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/15/migrant.mom.ap/index.html
  2. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/19/national/main1913833.shtml?source=RSS
  3. ^ http://www.bibdaily.com/pdfs/Arellano%20order%209-29-06.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/135637,deport111406.article
  5. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0608170087aug17,0,3085719.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed
  6. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/19/us/19immigrant.html?ex=1180929600&en=afca1259a34e268c&ei=5070
  7. http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_273080840.html
  8. "Boy wages fight for mother," Oscar Avila. Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. Washington: Nov 15, 2006. pg. 1
  9. ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/14/world/main2181120.shtml
  10. ^ http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/remember-the-immigrant-rights-movement/14317
  11. Byassee, Jason (Oct 31, 2006). "Sanctuary (...the new Rosa Parks)". The Christian Century. p. Vol.123, Iss. 22; pg. 10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-2182
Categories:
Elvira Arellano: Difference between revisions Add topic