Almost everyone is aware that for several months an illegal alien woman has been living in a church with her American-born son, seeking sanctuary from deportation. The media have made much of the plight of this poor mother, wrenching the public’s heartstrings with her much-touted concern for her child. But most mainstream media reports have been less than forthcoming about her history and the particulars of the case.

The church — The mother, 32-year-old Elvira Arellano, has been in the Aldalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago since last August with her now 8-year-old son Saul. But this is not the sort of church most of us picture in our minds when we read the mainstream media accounts — stained glass windows, steeple, bells. No. It is a STOREFRONT meeting-place for Hispanic immigrants, many of them also likely illegal. It is also the launching point for Hispanic political marches.

As a piece of real estate, it has less standing as a “church” than the Branch Davidian compound that our government felt free to attack. So let’s be accurate here. This women is holed up in a Chicago store-front political meeting hall for illegal aliens.

The mother — When Elvira Arellano first attempted to enter the United States in 1997 with fraudulent identity documents, she was apprehended and deported. She snuck back into the United States a few days later, and went to Oregon. Cynically realizing that she could stay legally if she gave birth to an “anchor baby,” she got herself pregnant by an unidentified “father” and dropped “little Saulito” in 1999.

During a post-9/11 sweep of workers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, she was was arrested again in 2002 for working under a false Social Security number. She was convicted in federal district court of Social Security fraud and sentenced to three years probation. Now note — this was just probation.

Scheduled to appear before immigration authorities on August 15, 2006, she instead took refuge in the so-called “church” because she feared desportation. In doing that, she became a celebrity among liberals and a media darling, in much the same way as Cindy Sheehan.

Her claims that our country is trying to separate her from her child are outrageous. There is nothing to prevent her from taking her son back to Mexico with her. This woman is a cynical opportunist and convicted criminal who is exploiting a child to play on the sympathies of naive Americans.

The child — Saul Arellano is enjoying lavish free medical care, courtesy of the taxpayers of the state of Illinois. He has been diagnosed with hyperactive disorder and reportedly sees a psychologist every week.

On November 14, 2006 the boy appeared before the Congress of Mexico to ask for the help of the Mexican government on behalf of his mother:

Boy Fighting Mom’s Battle To Stay In U.S.
Asks Mexican Congress For Help, Weeks After An Appeal To Bush

(CBS/AP) Mexico’s Congress was swayed Tuesday by a 7-year-old boy on a mission to keep his mom in the U.S.

Second-grader Saul Arellano, a U.S. citizen, appeared in Mexico’s 500-member Chamber of Deputies to plead for help in lobbying Washington to stop the deportation of his mother, an illegal immigrant who has taken refuge in a Chicago church.

His efforts paid off with a unanimous resolution calling on the Bush administration to suspend the deportation of Elvira Arellano and any other illegal immigrant parents of U.S. citizens.

If President Bush were to agree, it would “create a precedent that will benefit more than 4.9 million children who have been born in the United States and whose parents live under the threat of deportation,” said Mexican Rep. Jose Jacques, who lived in the U.S. for 33 years and has an American daughter and granddaughter….

The sympathetic figure of a young child is being used as a political pawn to invite a foreign government to intervene in the affairs of the United States.

The legislation — On May 3, 2007, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) introduced H.R. 2182 (read text of the bill here) to grant legal immigrant status and the possibility of permanent citizenship in 34 specific cases, including Arellano’s. The bill is currently in committee, the House Committee on the Judiciary.

This bill is a disingenuous attempt to get amnesty legislation through Congress disguised as a humanitarian effort for 34 specific individuals. Caving in to this maudlin ploy would create a precedent that would benefit 4.9 million illegal alien lawbreakers.

If you would like to telephone, email, fax, or write letters to members of Congress expressing your opposition to this legislation, now is the time to kill it — in committee. Here is a list of the committee members.

References:
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review — Berthing Anchor Babies
CBS News — Boy Fighting Mom’s Battle To Stay In U.S.
Chicago Tribune — Elvira Arellano and the law
The Library of Congress; Thomas — House 2182
Wikipedia — Elvira Arellano
New American Media — On the Front Lines of the Marches