Another illegal immigrant takes sanctuary at Chicago church (defies deportation order)

AP on Bakersfield Californian ^ | 1/28/08 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

A Chicago church is again in the spotlight in the debate over immigrant rights.

Illegal immigrant Elvira Arellano (el-VEE'-ruh ah-ray-AH'-noh) took sanctuary in the Adalberto United Methodist Church for a year before she was arrested on a visit to Los Angeles and deported last August.

Now, another illegal immigrant, Flor Crisostomo (floor kree-SOHS'-toh-moh), has defied a deportation order and taken refuge in the same church.

Crisostomo is an illegal immigrant from Mexico arrested at a workplace raid at a Chicago site of IFCO Systems in 2006.

The 28-year-old told reporters at the church Monday that she chose to defy authorities to illustrate the injustice of U.S. immigration laws.

[gubamyster]

ping

[Red_Devil 232]

Go in and get him out!

[org.whodat]

It is not a real Church, the loon that runs it is a far, far, far left whacked out liberal.

[Sherman Logan]

This idea of churches providing sanctuary really bothers me. It’s based on the fact that the Church used to indeed be a parallel government with its own rights that the secular government was obliged to honor.

What is this, London in 1250?

If a valid search and/or arrest warrant has been issued, a church should be searched on exactly the same basis as a warehouse or office. Anyone (including priest, minister or rabbi) intentionally hiding or protecting a known fugitive should be charged and prosecuted.

[Robe]

Arrest the pastor.. obstruction of justice

[Anonymous Rex]

The only injustice you skank is that you haven’t been deported yet.

[VeniVidiVici]

The 28-year-old told reporters at the church Monday that she chose to defy authorities to illustrate the injustice of U.S. immigration laws.

Thank God. Someone is finally going to show how much of an injustice it is towards Americans.

We should definately adopt the Mexican immigration laws and become more humane.

[Dante3]

Ditto. And take away the tax exemption of the church.

[Vigilanteman]

Here are the Senators who voted against the Cornyn amendment , which would have established a permanent bar for gang members, terrorists, and other criminals looking to snag a shamnesty visa. Republicans underlined:

Never forget McCain not only pushed the amnesty bill, he refused to allow exclusions for the worst of the lot. And he unloaded his infamous temper on his mild-mannered senate colleague for having the audacity to introduce this amendment.

Apologies to any who feel I am spamming this message on campaign threads, but it is an important message on a key vote which needs to get out.

[businessprofessor]

It certainly is a church. It is the church of Marxism and anti-Americanism.

[henkster]

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.

Romans 13:1-6.

I don’t agree with this all the time (I would not quote it as a reason for the Germans to submit to Hitler), but it is clearly appropriate to remind this lost shepherd how the flock is to be properly led.

[org.whodat]

It certainly is a church. It is the church of Marxism and anti-Americanism.

You get an A+ on your midterm!

[Sherman Logan]

Needs to be counter-balanced with the various scriptures requiring obedience to God rather than to man when in direct conflict. This is, of course, not a license to ignore the government whenever you dislike what it’s doing.

[henkster]

Agreed, but I can’t think of anything in scripture to justify using churches as sanctuaries for illegal aliens.

Plenty of historical precedents, mostly Byzantine, of churches being used as sanctuaries for deposed Emperors or failed coup leaders. Sometimes the sanctuary was honored. Sometimes, in a very bloody way, not.

Christ did not intend his house be “home base” for sinners and lawbreakers. IIRC, he threw them out.

[pa_dweller]

The pastor may be a loon but the church is real enough. I googled the church name and came up with a piece on the previous confrontation at the UMC website.

Apparently the UMC condones this activity.

And I grow more disillusioned.

[org.whodat]

You need to look up the actual so called pastor of this store front church, you will find his name and he goes way back in one scam after the other in Chicago.

She sought refuge at the storefront church on Chicago's West Side Aug. 15, 2006. She had not left the church property until deciding to be driven to Los Angeles, Coleman said. :Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist,Coleman's wife, Emma Lozano; FROM http://cbs2.com/local/Our.Lady.Queen.2.534796.html

Walter Coleman? Could that be Walter "Slim" Coleman, a longtime left wing activist? Yes, it is.

MORE here:http://newsbusters.org/node/7013

[chicagolady]

http://video.nbc5.com/player/?id=210725#videoid=210725

[metmom]

The 28-year-old told reporters at the church Monday that she chose to defy authorities to illustrate the injustice of U.S. immigration laws.

Why doesn't she do that in Mexico? Their immigration policies puts ours to shame. I wish we had ones as strict as Mexico does.

Churches should not be used as a cover for illegal activity. This is not a matter of freedom to worship, or the First Amendment.

[montag813]

It is not a real Church, the loon that runs it is a far, far, far left whacked out liberal.

Sounds like Obama's "church".

[Kimberly GG]

Part of a message I received from a Midwest Minutemen...

"As an FYI, if the SAVE Act is passed in its current format, Slim Coleman and his spouse Emma Lozanno CAN NOT be prosecuted for aiding and abetting
!!! [they are the 'pastor' and wife at the Church that harbored Elvira...google them for history][read about the SAVE Act including the provision that prevents their prosecution]

Coleman and Lozanno should have been prosecuted under current law for harboring Elvira Arellano, they were not. Ask your government leaders. WHY NOT? Don't know about you, but I am personally fed up with this selective law enforcement! Coleman and Lozanno break the law - they are not prosecuted. Ramos and Compean enforce the law, shoot a drug trafficker in the butt and they are sitting in jail.

Should this person be confirmed as establishing sanctuary, here is the contact info for ICE:
Report Suspicious Activity:
1-866-DHS-2-ICE
1-866-347-2423

------------------------------------------------------------- To report Adalberto United Methodist Church as possibly having violated their tax exempt status, you can go to: http://3949.firecoalition.com/IRS/index.asp
Info for Adalaberto:
ADALBERTO MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
2716 West Division Street, Chicago, IL 60622, (773) 782-8464

To contact your members of Congress, go to:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
key in you zip code and click on GO. Your federal and state elected officials will appear. Go their sites and let them know what you think about the following article:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ap-il-immigrationactivi,0,1659557.story

Church where illegal immigrant took sanctuary for a year to host another woman


CHICAGO - Leaders of a Chicago church where an illegal immigrant from Mexico took sanctuary for a year before being deported say they plan to house another immigration activist who is set on defying a deportation order.

Flor Crisostomo, 28, an illegal immigrant who came to the U.S. in 2001, was slated to report to federal immigration officials on Monday, but the head of Adalberto United Methodist Church said she will seek refuge at the church in the same way as immigration activist Elvira Arellano, who was deported to Mexico last August.

"She wanted to continue the struggle," the Rev. Walter Coleman said of Crisostomo. "That's what the church is for, to provide space where the truth can be told. She brings out the truth of the situation in a different way than Elvira did."

Crisostomo's attorney, Chris Bergin, planned to submit a letter to immigration officials Monday, outlining his client's decision to stay in the United States illegally.

Crisostomo, who declined requests to speak with reporters until Monday, immigrated without papers to Chicago from Oaxaca in Mexico seven years ago. She took a job with IFCO Systems, a manufacturer of crates and pallets, and was arrested during raids on company sites nationwide in 2006.

Her three children, two boys and a girl, live in Mexico with their maternal grandmother; Crisostomo is unmarried.

"I am taking a stand of civil disobedience ..." she said in prepared remarks to be read Monday, which were sent to The Associated Press. "I believe with all my heart that the United States and Mexico must end the system of undocumented labor."

Crisostomo, who has been an immigration activist in the Chicago area and fasted with Arellano in protest of immigration policies, said she could not support her family if she returned to Mexico.

Immigration activists such as Coleman claim that by living at the church -- apart from her three children -- Crisostomo brings attention to how they believe immigration policies in the U.S. need attention.

Activists from the church and the Chicago immigration rights group Centro Sin Fronteras claim that economic situations have deteriorated in Mexico because of NAFTA and other U.S. policies, creating dire situations that cause illegal immigration.

"The current policies are driving people further and further underground," Coleman said. "That's the reason she came in the first place. She's saying that you need to fix the system here."

Gail Montenegro, a spokeswoman for the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago, declined to comment on Crisostomo's specific case.

"ICE officers are sworn to enforce the nation's immigration laws and will do so at appropriate times and places," she said.

Adalberto United Methodist Church, located in the heavily Latino Humboldt Park neighborhood, was home to immigration activist Elvira Arellano, and her U.S. citizen son, Saul, for one year. Arellano left the church last August and was arrested in Los Angeles after giving a speech and deported to Mexico shortly thereafter.
>br> Arellano was initially arrested in 1997 after crossing the border into the United States. She was sent back to Mexico but soon returned. She was arrested again years later and convicted of working as a cleaning woman at O'Hare International Airport under a false Social Security number.

She took refuge at the church in 2006, claiming that if she was deported, her son would also be effectively deported and deprived of his rights as a U.S. citizen. She said her situation illustrated the plight of millions of illegal immigrants.