USING A SEVEN YEAR OLD 11/16/06

Parts of the world are all a-raged with the story of Saul Arellano, a 7 year old American second-grader and his illegal Mexican immigrant mother, Elvira. She crossed the border illegally in 1997, was sent back to Michoacan, crossed again, got pregnant at some point or another, and gave birth to Saul in Oregon. Sometime after his birth, she and her son moved to Chicago. She was scheduled to be deported back in August but instead of surrendering to authorities, she and her son began living in a storefront church, the Adalberto United Methodist Church.

The trouble had begun with her job as a cleaning woman at the O'Hare Airport. That is how she was found out. She was arrested in December of 2001. After an appeal or two-- who paid for her lawyer?-- she was ordered to report in August of 2006. That is five years almost, well, four and three/quarters, that she remained illegally in Chicago where she still is. The immigration department has not gone to the church to pick her up. They could. But no one has. Why not? Saul is "in therapy" because he supposedly has nightmares about his mother being sent back to Mexico. Who is paying for that?

Elvira says that her son wants to fight for her to stay in Chicago. Saul says he does not want to live in Mexico because he does not want to leave his school and playmates behind. A small contigent of American let-the-illegals-stay activists were with Saul when he went to the Mexican Congress. Are they the ones who helped him make the journey without his mother? Well, no. There is a man who did. His name is Emma Lozano. Lozano is the executive director of Centro Sin Fronteras, an immigrants-rights group in Chi-town. There is also a "sanctuary movement" to content with over here as well. They help illegals stay. How? By relocating them rather than allowing them to get caught and be deported? Did they buy the new tan suit that Saul was wearing when he was speaking to the 500 deputies in the Mexican Congress on Tuesday? Saul and Elvira were depending upon friends to supply food to them while at the storefront church. Elvira still is at the church as far as we know.

Little Saul spoke to the Mexican Congress [Chamber of Deputies] and the result was that the folks there are now asking President Bush 41 to forget about deporting her. They are also asking, in the interest of fairness of course, that any other illegals who are parents of children born here also be allowed to stay and not be deported. In practical terms, that means the illegal parentals of somewhere between 3 million and 4.9 billion kids [depending upon whose estimate one believes] who are also in Saul Arellano's situation would be allowed to stay.

Mom says that deporting her would deprive her son Saul of his rights as an American citizen. Hmmm. What rights would those be? The right to sponge off of our tax money? Oh, I forgot, she had been working. With a fake social security number but no matter. She was working. I should not pick on her for that. Nor for wanting the best for her son. After all, if she is intent upon little Saul receiving an American education and an American upbringing, she could leave him with one of those oh so helpful friends.

Oh, and before I forget, Elvira is not an illegal immigrant-- she is an uncounted immigrant and also an immigrant activist. Maybe I should relocate to Mexico without being counted and have a kid there while I'm at it.

radical sapphoq


http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/11/14/news/nation/08_22_7411_13_06.txt
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4332027.html
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/11/16/2003336580
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/
la-fg-boy15nov15,0,4430315.story?coll=la-home-headlines
http://www.kpvi.com/index.cfm?page=nbcheadlines.cfm&ID=37661