Immigration Activist to Leave Sanctuary

Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant who has taken up sanctuary at Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago for the past year, accompanied by Jacqueline Jackson, wife of Rev. Jesse Jackson, talks to the media during a press conference at the church Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007 in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) (M. Spencer Green - AP)

Arellano came illegally to the U.S. in 1997. She was deported shortly thereafter, but returned and worked different jobs, including childcare. She moved to Illinois in 2000 because she had friends in the Chicago area and took a job cleaning planes at O'Hare International Airport.

She was arrested in 2002 at O'Hare and later convicted of working under a false Social Security number. She was to surrender to authorities last August, but asked instead to take refuge at her church.

She has gone on hunger strikes, written dozens of letters and sent her son with other activists to Mexico and Washington to talk to legislators. She's been interviewed by reporters from across the globe.

But she says she doesn't consider herself a symbol.

"I am a single mother who has a child who's an American citizen," she said recently in Spanish.

Arellano said she has a simple goal: to stay with Saul, who she said should be guaranteed rights as an American citizen.

"He knows this as his country," she said.

Arellano said her decision to live at the church has come with sacrifices. She said she can't take Saul for after-school activities or pick up his report card. The family has no contact with Saul's father.

At times she has feared for her and Saul's safety, she said.

In December, neighborhood residents said they saw U.S. marshals taking photos of the church. Federal agents denied the allegations, but immigration activists took up 24-hour vigils outside.

Arellano has no case pending to become a legal resident.

"I'm hoping for an immigration bill to pass," she said.

Arellano knows she could be arrested during next month's planned trip. If that happens, she said, "they'd find me praying."