Posted on 09/30/2006 8:18:52 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Court Rules American Citizen Son's Rights Won't Be Violated If Mother Is Deported
(AP) CHICAGO -- A federal judge struck a blow Friday to the hopes of an immigration activist who has taken refuge in a Chicago church to avoid deportation, dismissing her lawsuit against the government.
Elvira Arellano, 31, a Mexican national, had hoped that U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve would rule that deporting her would violate the constitutional rights of her 7-year-old son, Saul, an American citizen.
But St. Eve ruled that no one's rights would be violated by deporting Arellano back to Mexico. She did say, however, the child would suffer a hardship.
"The question before the court is whether that hardship is of constitutional magnitude -- under any construction of the alleged facts, it is not," St. Eve said in her order.
St. Eve concluded that the pending removal order does not prevent Saul from exercising his rights of citizenship.
"Saul will not suffer any injury to his constitutional right to remain in the United States," she said.
The case was being closely watched around the country not only because of the drama of a mother fighting to stay with her son, but because Arellano has given focus to the cause of undocumented immigrants who want to stay in the United States.
"She is the face of the movement," said Emma Lozano, executive director of the Centro Sin Fronteras and a strong Arellano supporter in an August interview with The Associated Press.
St. Eve's order dismissed the suit, which technically was brought on behalf of Saul by the pastor of the church where Arellano has taken refuge. It was not immediately clear what other steps could be taken.
Arellano's attorney, Joseph Mathews, was not reached for comment early Friday evening. A message was left on his answering machine.
But there was no sign that the government was preparing to go into the church to remove Arellano by force.
"We'll review the decision once we receive it," said Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Dallas. He declined to comment further.
The Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of the Adalberto United Methodist Church where Arellano has taken refuge, said that the woman would carry on with her struggle to remain in the United States despite the ruling.
"It doesn't change anything," he said.
A phone message left for Arellano was not immediately returned.
Arellano was supposed to surrender for deportation to Mexico on Aug. 15.
Instead, she and her son moved into a cramped room in the storefront church sandwiched between a bank and a beauty parlor in Chicago's heavily Puerto Rican Humboldt Park neighborhood.
She has frequently told reporters visiting the church she wants to stay in the United States to provide a better life for herself and her son.
"I'm not going to leave. This is a place where God has put me, this is God's will and I'm going to stay here," Arellano has said.
Arellano first was deported from the United States shortly after illegally crossing the border in 1997, according to immigration enforcement. She says she returned within days, went on to live in Oregon for three years and moved to Chicago in 2000.
She was arrested in 2002 at O'Hare International Airport, where she was employed as a cleaning woman, and subsequently convicted of working under a false Social Security number.
"an immigration activist" = Illegal Alien= Criminal=Deportation or Imprisoment!
Bye bye.
Why just her? We have millions of illegals in Calif. and Texas!
"Judge Strikes Blow To Hopes Of ILLEGAL ALIEN In Church"
There, fixed that for CBS. What part of 'against the law to enter our country without permission' doesn't the media understand. Maybe they should start calling rapists "unpermissioned lovers". Bank Robbers can be "undocumented withdrawers", murderers are now "post-birth abortionists", etc.
Get some nuts media, the reason we're here on the Net is because none of Legacy Media (my term for them) tells us the unvarnished truth anymore. Not even Fox - Murdoch's recent shameless, profit-based Democrat pandering is making both Fox's website and cable news unwatchable these days.
Re-entry makes this illegal a felon. ICE has an active and valid deportation order. Act on it and deport this woman.
=Democrat
Cool. Wish we could deport that pandering preacher too.
I like my amnesty plan!
Please call them INVADERS and don't compare them to people who are legal aliens!
IF you aid and abet CRIMINALS, you are a criminal!
President Bush has been great on most things except for our border.
He has been great on the war on terrorists.
But on the border he is a gross failure.
He acted fast and correct on the 3,000+ people murdered at the world trade center.
He ignores the many rapes, murders and robberies which is much larger than the murders and money loss at the world trade center.
More Americans are abducted on the border of Mexico than in Iraq!
Start building the fence.
It should be made a felony for Criminals who overstay their visas and Invaders.
I believe we should give amnesty to these poor CRIMINALS or INVADERS.
This should be a 2 week amnesty to get the heck out of our Country.
The ones who ignore this amnesty should be buried in a tent city jail and fined $10,000 or buried elsewhere.
All aiders and abettors of these CRIMINALS or INVADERS should get 1 year in a tent city jail and a $10,000 fine for each CRIMINAL aided.
Those in government should be the first ones charged.
Immigration Activist = Illegal Alien
Euthanasia Advocate = Murderer
Geez. Journalism 101.
o
I forgot THAT ONE!
Now that there are overwhelming numbers of illegal aliens here, the government will abdicate their responsibility for to enforce that law as well.
Hey, kids. I have an idea. Let's all convert our weapons to full auto, so that there are too many of us to police. I'm sure the liberals will see the wisdom of letting us all go in the name of practical law enforcement concerns. Right?
She was convicted of SS fraud, and is an illegal alien. Couldn't The Rev. Walter Coleman be prosecuted for harboring a convicted felon, and as the pastor of the Adalberto United Methodist Church, wouldn't that be grounds to remove its 501c(3) status? If the church had other officers/employees, might that also involve them in the prosecution as well?
I agree with the judge that this may pose a hardship for the boy, but, as a citizen, he would have CPS looking into foster parents and other parts of the social safety net.
If this weren't a hispanic church, wouldn't they be in deep legal trouble by now?
Hey..don't forget us here in Arizona...the port of entry of choice for thousands each day.
The kid won't need foster care. He can go with her. Then, she can reapply to come back...legally. And, where is this childs father?
Excerpt of the Judge's bio at DOJ:
"Ms. St. Eve was an Associate Independent Counsel for the Whitewater Independent Counsel in Little Rock, Arkansas. While working on Whitewater, Ms. St. Eve successfully prosecuted former Governor Jim Guy Tucker, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal for fraud."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.