Elvira Arellano is a 31-year-old mother, immigrant and activist, who officials are trying to deport to Mexico. This week Arellano sought sanctuary at a church in the Garfield Park Neighborhood of Chicago with her seven-year-old son, an American citizen.
Here is the brilliant part...it would be a PR nightmare for US Customs, Homeland Security and the administration to go into a church and arrest a women and her 7 year old son. She is using Bush's constant bible thumping and ultra conservative base as a token in her favor. The administration wouldn't look too godly if they bust into a church and haul off a working women and her 7 year old American son would they?
Arellano is not leaving the church and this situation is beginning to hit national headlines. It's surprising that there was no quiet political fix to avert this situation before it got to this state. Arellano is emerging as a national face for this enormous issue as we ascend into a turbulent election season. The lady worked a blue collar spot at O'Hare, shes no criminal, she is a working single parent. She was doing a job that nobody else wanted. Let the lady stay!
Its been a rough week for the administration; NSA wiretapping deemed illegal in Detroit Federal Court and now this. While we are on the wire tap bit check out this quote by District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, "There are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution."
3 interested person(s)
"She was doing a job that nobody else wanted"
I don't really find this argument convincing. American citizens would do the job if employers simply paid a market-clearing wage.
I agree Nordy. A more convincing arguement I think is the fact she is a single mother working and her son is a 7 year old american citizen. I relize this arguement in turn creates a slippery slope where one draws the line on who can and cannot be in this country.
Nice post, K.
There have been a couple of cases of people fighting deportation by taking sanctuary in churches in Britain. The best known is Viraj Mendis - riot police did break in with sledgehammers to get him eventually. When he was forcibly deported to Sri Lanka, friends from Britain went with him to try to ensure his safety. The happy postscript is he made it back here a couple of years ago
Details here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3655872.stm
More successfully, in the area I live - Hackney, east London - Sunday Ogunwobi and his family sheltered in a church for four years. He eventually won the right to stay in Britain and was at one stage elected as a local councillor.
OK, that was britain. Now a quick thought on the US: for a country that exterminated most of the non-immigrant poulation and forced many other "immigrants" into the country in chains, threatening someone with deportation really doesn't look too good...
Good luck Elvira! Hope she wins.
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