Sep 8, 2006 11:02 am US/Central
Feds Turn Up Heat On Immigrant Mother In Church
Elvira Arellano Has Been Holed Up In Church To Avoid Deportation
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Federal authorities are turning up the heat on an immigration activist who is holed up with her son in a
Humboldt Park church to avoid deportation.
Elvira Arellano has been staying at the
Adalberto United Methodist Church on West Division Street since last month. She went to the church with her 7-year-old son, Saulito who is a U.S. citizen, instead of surrendering on Aug. 15 as immigration officials demanded.
On Thursday, federal prosecutors said they hoped to a lawsuit to keep her from being deported would be dismissed. The lawsuit claimed deporting Arellano would deny her son his rights, but prosecutors said that is not true.
Since Arellano went to the church, some officials have urged a letter-writing campaign to President Bush asking to allow Arellano to stay in the United States with her son. But others have protested against Arellano's actions and one group even said an abuse report should be filed against her for keeping her son in the church.
Immigration officers have said they will not enter the church to arrest Arellano, although they said earlier that they intended to apprehend Arellano at a time and place "of their choosing."
Arellano has planned a news conference for Friday morning to respond to the refusal to grant her a stay of deportation.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
