CHICAGO – The Mexican activist who took sanctuary at a Chicago church for a year to protest her deportation has returned.
Elvira Arellano is living at Adalberto United Methodist Church, where she took sanctuary in 2006, but this time she’s not confined to the church.
Arellano was released from U.S. custody Thursday as she sought permission to enter the country without legal documents.
The Rev. Walter Coleman said Sunday that Arellano is taking stock before an April hearing when she’ll make her case before an immigration judge. In the meantime, she’s with her sons, a teenager who is a U.S. citizen and a baby born in Mexico.
Arellano is protesting the separation of families through deportation. She wants President Barack Obama to extend deferments he gave to DREAM Act children and parents of U.S. citizen children.
