Deported

Since then, Elvira Arellano has become the local face, the local symbol, for immigration reform. Last week, she left that church for the first time since seeking refuge to take her message on the road, knowing full well she could be arrested and deported under a 1997 order by federal immigration officials.

And she was...good!

The first step she can take to reform immigration is for her to enter the country legally...and start the process the way she should have back in 1997 when she first entered the country illegally. She was then deported, returned illegally in 2000. She then was arrested and convicted in 2002 for working under a false social security number. She was suppose to surrender to authorities in August 2006 but took refuge in the Humboldt Park church for over a year. She was arrested over the weekend when she left the church to participate in a pro-illegal immigrant rally in Los Angeles. She was deported yesterday and is back in Mexico where she will no doubt reenter the US illegally.