Arellano came to Washington state illegally in 1997. She was deported to Mexico shortly after, but returned and moved to Illinois in 2000, taking a job cleaning planes at O'Hare International Airport.
She was arrested in 2002 at O'Hare and convicted of working under a false Social Security number. She was to surrender to authorities last August.
Instead of surrendering to authorities, she took refuge in the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago.
So she entered this country illegally - twice. Then she committed identity theft in order to get a job. Then refused an official court order to surrender to authorities.
Then people are shocked and angered when she leaves her refuge to speak to reporters at a pro-illegal immigration rally in Los Angeles and she is arrested and deported.
For me the key paragraph in this report is:
"From the time I took sanctuary the possibility has existed that they arrest me in the place and time they want," she said in Spanish. "I only have two choices. I either go to my country, Mexico, or stay and keep fighting. I decided to stay and fight."
Notice that this woman has lived and worked in the United States for most of the last 10 years but still speaks only spanish. Also, she still considers her country to be Mexico. The United States is apparently only a place to "stay and fight".
I know that many folks will call me a heartless bastard for not mentioning or caring that deporting this woman seperated her from her 8 year old kid who is a US citizen.
Sure I feel sorry for the kid. I feel sorry that this kid had a mother who was so stupid as to put her child into a situation where her criminal activity would result in his having to live without her. But this woman is no different from a bank robber, thief (oh, wait, she is a thief) or a embezzler. If you get caught committing crimes in this country our laws say that you should be punished. There is no provision for our laws and the penalties for breaking them should be ignored if you have children. Besides, there is nothing to stop her son from going to Mexico to be with his mother.
Arellano should consider herself lucky that she wasn't prosecuted for breaking our laws. Instead she was simply sent home. If she returns illegally, then I think she should be charged and prosecuted for illegal immigration, identity theft, child endangerment and resisting arrest. And if convicted she should be jailed. Either way, she will be separated from her child. That is the risk she chose when she decided to live the life of a criminal.
Yeah, I feel sorry for the kid. It isn't his fault that his mother made so many bad decisions. But sympathy for the child doesn't excuse the actions of the mother.
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