Aug 20, 2006 11:24 pm US/Central
Rally For Immigrant Seeking Sanctuary In Church
National Labor Leader Arrives From Washington
by Jim Williams
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A rally was held Sunday for the Mexican woman at the heart of an immigration showtown.
Elvira Arellano is seeking sanctuary inside a church, and her cause brought national support to Humboldt Park.
They stood outside of the Methodist church supporting the Mexican woman who remains inside in defiance of the federal government.
Arellano has taken refuge there, refusing to obey an order to leave the country.
Labor leader
Jesse Rios flew in from Washington.
"I urge all of you, write the President of United States, call the White House, tell him to give her the rights she needs to protect her son … and the ability to stay in country with her son," Rios said.
Arellano's 7-year-old son is an American citizen. She says she's staying in the U.S. to be with him. Saulito Arellano was in the middle of the demonstrators.
"If I don't see her that makes it sad," the little boy said.
Arellano's plight has become a national story, a symbol of 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
"I don't only speak for me, but for millions of families like mine," she said.
Not everyone at the rally was sympathetic.
Tonya Reyes, who is Puerto Rican, says Arellano should go back to Mexico.
"They come out here to steal our jobs. I'm an American. Then they come out here and do all of this like she's a star? She's not a star. She's an immigrant," Reyes said. "She doesn't belong here."
That was a minority opinion in the 2700 block in West Division. In fact, one of the chants in support of Arellano was "we're fighting hand in hand ... Mexicans and Puerto Ricans."
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