Activist steps into debate pulpit

Activist steps into debate pulpit
By Oscar Avila
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 18, 2006

The controversy surrounding Elvira Arellano sent ripples Thursday far beyond the Humboldt Park storefront church where the immigrant activist sought refuge, as she defied a government order of deportation for a third day.

Around the nation, both supporters and critics began to seize on Arellano's case as an emblem for the immigration debate.

Dolores Huerta, a former top associate of Cesar Chavez and an icon in the Latino rights movement, arrived on a red-eye flight from California to the church, where she enveloped Arellano in a lengthy and tearful embrace.

Huerta, who had worked with Arellano on an immigrant march several weeks ago, said Arellano has emerged as an important example for immigrants around the country.

"By the activism that Elvira has taken, she is putting a new face on this issue," Huerta told supporters at Adalberto United Methodist Church, who applauded when she entered.

Huerta said no illegal immigrant with a child who is a U.S. citizen should be deported, a position at odds with most lawmakers and current U.S. law.

Arellano, 31, an activist for illegal immigrants, had taken sanctuary in the church after refusing to report to the Department of Homeland Security's local offices Tuesday as ordered.

Arellano has received support from elected officials, thanks to her activism through United Latino Family, a Pilsen-based group she helped found after her arrest in 2002.

Now that Arellano has defied a deportation order, immigration authorities say they will arrest her, regardless of whether she takes refuge in a church.

In a sign that immigrant leaders hope to elevate Arellano's situation, the group that has helped organize major street marches in Chicago urged immigrants all over the country Thursday to follow Arellano's example and seek sanctuary in their local churches.

The March 10 Committee declared its "unconditional solidarity" with Arellano.

Arellano's notoriety is spreading throughout the Hispanic community as national Spanish-language networks detail her story. But outrage is also spreading across the country as U.S. citizens learn about Arellano's defiance.

Lou Dobbs, the CNN commentator who voices concerns almost nightly about America's "broken borders," aired a segment about Arellano in which he questioned the Methodist church's embrace of her case.

"Her case is quickly becoming a metaphor for all that is wrong with this nation's broken immigration system," Dobbs said on his program Wednesday night.

Bryanna Bevens, a columnist for the popular vdare.com Internet blog that presses for tougher immigration enforcement, vented outrage about Arellano's demands, especially her invocation of Rosa Parks. After pointing out that Arellano has requested a `private bill' from U.S. Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and that Arellano has broken U.S. immigration laws `several times,' Bevens wrote that Arellano "somehow feels that her position is righteous enough to issue threats."

"You would think she would have enough sense to at least try an appeal for sympathy-mouthy garbage like this just makes me pray for a heavily armed SWAT team to storm the church, throw her to ground with as much force as possible, gag her, cuff her and physically toss her over the fence back into Mexico," Bevens wrote.

----------

oavila@tribune.com