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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | August 2007 
Deported Mexican Migrant Mom Asks Mexican President to Return to US as Peace Ambassador
 Associated Press
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| | In this photo released by Mexico's Presidencia, Elvira Arellano, left, speaks with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, right, at the presidential residence of Los Pinos in Mexico City, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007. Arellano, 32, a recently deported illegal immigrant who spent a year living inside a Chicago church to avoid being separated from her U.S.-born son, met with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon Tuesday as she looks for support in her case. (AP/Presidencia, Alfredo Guerrero) |
Mexico City - The recently deported illegal migrant and activist who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year, has asked the Mexico's president to appoint her "peace and justice" ambassador so she can return to the United States.
Elvira Arellano, 32, who sought refuge to avoid being separated from her U.S.-born, 8-year-old son, was arrested and sent back to Mexico on Aug. 19 after traveling to Los Angeles to attend a rally for the overhaul of U.S. immigration laws. Her son stayed in the United States.
"What I'm asking for is a diplomatic visa so that I can be an ambassador for peace and justice because I'm not a terrorist and the United States can't continue treating undocumented migrants as terrorists," Arellano told reporters after meeting with President Felipe Calderon at the presidential residence, Los Pinos.
In a news release, the president's office said Arellano asked the Mexican government to help her get a visa so she can enter the United States but it did not mention Arellano's request for a diplomatic appointment.
Calderon asked Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa to "look into the situation that Mrs. Arellano and her son face and to approach U.S. authorities so that we can respond to (her) request," it said.
Arellano became a national symbol for illegal immigrant parents by defying her deportation order and speaking out from Chicago's Adalberto United Methodist Church, where she sought sanctuary with her son on Aug. 15, 2006.
On Saturday, hundreds of people marched in Los Angeles in support of Arellano. |
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