Deportee Takes Refuge in Church

Taking refuge in a church, a prominentadvocate for undocumented immigrants publicly defied federal authorities inChicago who were trying to deport her Tuesday.

Elvira Arellano, who became a national spokeswoman for families facingdeportation, had been ordered to report to the Department of HomelandSecurity by 9 a.m.

Instead, Arellano appeared at the pulpit of Adalberto United MethodistChurch in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, vowing before dozens ofsupporters that she would not return to Mexico “like a coward.” Shesaid she would stay in the church indefinitely with her 7-year-old son,a U.S. citizen. Click here.

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