Visa Lawyer Blog
An illegal immigrant who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year to avoid being separated from her U.S.-born son has been deported to Mexico. Elvira Arellano became an activist and a national symbol for illegal immigrant parents as she defied her deportation order and spoke out from her religious sanctuary. She held a news conference last week to announce that she would finally leave the church to try to lobby U.S. lawmakers for change.
She had just spoken at a Los Angeles rally when she was arrested Sunday outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church and deported.
From the AP:
Illegal immigrant mother of U.S.-born boy deported to Mexico
“If my deportation served to unite people, to prompt them to rise up, to bring together religious and community leaders to fight for legalization, that’s what’s important,” Elvira Arellano, 32, said Monday. She talked to reporters inside an apartment in Tijuana, where she has been staying since her deportation Sunday.
It will certainly be tough for her to return to the US now, current laws will bar her from the US for at least 10 years unless she can get a waiver.