Elvira Arellano Arrested by ICE

Peter Prengaman reports in the San Jose Mercury News:

An illegal immigrant who became the face of the immigration reform movement while taking refuge in a Chicago church to avoid deportation has been arrested, the church’s pastor said.
Elvira Arellano was arrested before 3 p.m. outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church on L.A.’s historic Olvera Street, where she had been speaking to reporters, said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago.

Coleman said he was with Arellano when she was detained, but declined to provide other details.

“We’re trying to determine her situation right now,” he said.

It was unclear what law enforcement agency had taken Arellano into custody. A call to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not immediately returned.

“We are sad, but at the same time we are angry,” said Javier Rodriguez, a Chicago immigration activist who worked with Arellano. “How dare they arrest this woman?”

The 32-year-old Arellano had arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday, leaving her sanctuary for the first time in a year to campaign for immigration reform. Click here for the full story.

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