Children First?
By Chuck Hyde, Editor of StandBesideHer.com
I have resisted until now to comment extensively on the subject of illegal immigration. This is mostly because the issue is, in my mind, not completely clear cut. I truly believe we need to secure our borders. Further, I take issue with the fact that illegal immigrants, by definition, are not respecting our laws. On the other hand, I am not entirely comfortable with the rabid atmosphere that some are fostering on the anti-immigration side. With this said, there is one case I have no mixed feelings on. This is the case of Elvira Arellano.
Ms. Arellano is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was first arrested in 1997 in Washington state and deported. She returned to Illinois and was working at O’Hare Airport in Chicago when she was arrested again and ordered to report for deportation. Instead of reporting as ordered, she took refuge in a church in Chicago where officials from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would not violate the church sanctuary to arrest her.
Along the way through these various arrests and illegal entries into our country, Ms. Arellano gave birth to a son in the U.S. Being born in the United States, her son is now a U.S. citizen. The argument used by Ms. Arellano and her supporters was that we could not deport her now because we would be separating her from her son. This attempt to use her son to pull at the heart strings of the public completely ignores the fact that the son is more than welcome to accompany her to Mexico.
I have two issues with this entire story. First, I realize that the notion of church as a sanctuary has a long history but I do not believe it should be used to protect someone who is not only flouting our law, but actually carrying on a public relations campaign from within the church with the assistance of the minister. This seems like an abuse of the church as sanctuary doctrine. Second, we need to readdress the laws governing citizenship being endowed on someone solely for being born in the U.S. This is left over from the founding of our country and was not intended to be a back door in.
At present, Ms. Arellano is in Mexico having been deported by ICE. How did Ms. Arellano go about being arrested? Did ICE break down the door of the church and arrest her? No, Ms. Arellano left the sanctuary of the church, traveled to Los Angeles for a rally, announcing her intentions along the way, and, most importantly, leaving her son behind in Illinois. At the rally in Los Angeles Ms. Arellano was arrested by ICE and deported immediately to Mexico. I believe that Ms. Arellano not only knew she would be arrested, she was openly daring ICE to do so. I believe that she chose to be a martyr for the pro-immigration cause. This sounds really noble until one realizes that the true casualty in all of this is her son, who remains behind in Illinois. She essentially sacrificed being with her son to help make a point. This is not only selfish, her show of a lack of concern for her son completely destroys her underlying argument that it would be cruel of ICE to deport her and separate her from her son. That’s what’s on my mind.
About The Author: Chuck Hyde is editor of StandBesideHer.com. He is also a husband and father of two teenage boys and a younger daughter. His family lives in the northern Midwestern rural United States, where they enjoy camping, fishing, and other outdoor activities together. Chuck is a Registered Nurse in an inner city emergency room and has had a lifelong addiction to politics.
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