Elvira Arellano Should Not Have Been Deported

Elvira Arellano is the illegal alien who has just been deported back to Mexico, for the second time. Here is a summary of her story:

Arellano entered the United States illegally in 1997, and was apprehended and deported back to Mexico by the United States government. She returned within days and lived illegally for three years in Oregon. In 1999, she gave birth to Saul Arellano, whose father remains unnamed by his mother. Saul is a United States citizen due to the 14th Amendment, which grants birthright citizenship. In 2000, Arellano moved to Chicago and worked as a cleaning woman at O'Hare International Airport. In 2002, following a post-September 11 security sweep, she was arrested and convicted of using a false Social Security number to obtain employment and was sentenced to three years probation. Arellano was ordered to appear before immigration authorities on August 15, 2006. Instead, on that date, she took refuge in the Adalberto United Methodist church in the Humboldt Park area of Chicago to avoid arrest and deportation.

On November 14, 2006, in Mexico City, Saul Arellano appeared before the Congress of Mexico. The Mexican lawmakers passed a resolution to urge the United States government to suspend the deportation of Arellano and other parents of children who are United States citizens.

She was arrested on August 19, 2007 in Los Angeles. Within hours of her arrest Arellano was repatriated to Mexico by U.S. federal agents in compliance with an existing deportation order. She was accompanied to the Mexican border by an official of the Mexican consulate in San Diego, California, as well as by agents of the U.S. government. - Wikipedia

My first reaction to her deportation was 'good, only 12 million more to go.' Then she decided to start making headlines from Mexico, bad talking about her treatment while in the US illegally. That is when I realized that the US made a mistake in deporting her for the second time. And as the saying goes, 'no good deed goes unpunished'.

In her case, she should have been given jail time instead of being deported, especially considering that she was making a mockery of out immigration laws not only by defying them, but also by taking sanctuary in a church and making a public issue of it. By illegally reentering the US, she should have received a two year jail sentence which is the maximum permitted by the law:

1912 8 U.S.C. § 1326 -- Reentry After Deportation (Removal)

After the amendments made by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), subsection 1326(a) now makes it an offense for any alien who has been denied admission, excluded, deported, or removed, or has departed the United States while an order of exclusion, deportation or removal is outstanding and thereafter enters, attempts to enter, or is at any time found in the United States, unless prior to the alien's reembarkation at a place outside the United States or his application from foreign contiguous territory, the Attorney General has expressly consented to such alien's for admission, or such alien shall establish that he was not required to obtain such advance consent under the Immigration and Nationality Act or any prior Act.

The basic statutory maximum penalty for reentry after deportation is a fine under title 18, imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or both. However, with regard to an alien whose "removal" was subsequent to a conviction for commission of three or more misdemeanors involving drugs, crimes against the person, or both, or a felony (other than an aggravated felony), the statutory maximum term of imprisonment is 10 years. Moreover, if deportation was subsequent to conviction for an aggravated felony, the statutory maximum term of imprisonment is 20 years. - US Dept. of Justice

Instead, the US thought that is would just be easiest to send her back to Mexico and that the problem would go away. I am not sure how they thought that was going to happen in this case, seeing that they had done this once already and she promptly returned to the US.

Now in Mexico, she is desperately trying to get the Mexican Government to back her cause to allow her to return to the US, even to the point of suggesting that the Mexican Government send her back to the US as a Diplomat. (That won't work as the US would need to accept her, which won't happen.)

Foreigners, even illegal ones, are guests in their country. Elvira Arellano was an uninvited 'guest'. She behaved badly at the party. She ignored, evaded and disobeyed the hosts. Eventually, she was forced out the door by the bouncers. That is the right of the hosts, especially when dealing with people who do not respect the simple rule of law.

Her deportation should have been the end of the story, but now she is becoming some celebrity in Mexico for being sent back home. She has met with the Mexican Congress that has condemned the US for deporting her (This is very amusing considering how Mexico treats legal and illegal immigrants to their country). The President of Mexico even met with her and issued a press release!

President Calderón Receives Elvira Arellano

(Tuesday, August 28 | Press Release)

President Calderón received Elvira Arellano at the Official Los Pinos Residence today - During the conversation, the Mexican President listened carefully to Mrs. Arellano’s explanation of her current situation and her constant struggle to reunify migrant families. [Comment: What struggle to reunify migrant families? This has always been about herself and only herself.]

The president offered Elvira Arellano all his sympathy regarding her compulsory separation from her son [Comment: Again, nobody is keeping her away from her child. Her child is welcome to be with her in Mexico.] and offered her his support in this complex situation.

President Calderón ratified the priority his government places on the living conditions of Mexican migrants residing in the United States and repeated the need for an integral migratory reform in that country.

He also explained that his administration is working hard to create employment opportunities for Mexicans which, in the medium and long term, will enable a larger number of co-nationals to have opportunities for development in this country.

For her part, Mrs. Arellano asked the Mexican government to apply for a visa from the United States that will enable her to return to that country.

The Mexican president instructed Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Patricia Espinosa to order her department to undertake an analysis of the situation being faced by Mrs. Arellano and her son and to take the necessary steps with the US authorities to be able to respond to this request. - President of Mexico

You have to be kidding me. This is the sorry state of the Mexican Government today, meeting with a woman who was returned to her country because she broke the rules of another country. As it is, the Mexican Government has actively aided its citizens to get the hell out of their country. Sadly, for most of them, that is the one and only time the Mexican Government has done anything for them. (And most likely in a selfish attempt to increase US dollar remittances back to Mexico.) Like I said in a previous post, the Mexican Government is part of the US illegal immigration problem. Recently Mexico mentioned that the amount of money sent back to Mexico has declined. Well of course, that is what happens when there is nobody left behind to send money too. Maybe the Government can convince her fellow citizens to send money to Ms. Arellano.

-------------------------------------------------PS:

One area that her and people who support her are using is the fact that her child is a US Citizen and that it is unfair to deport her as they would be separated. That is a scam and is recognized by the US Government as a scam, as a US Citizen child cannot apply for their parents to legally immigrate until the child is at least 18 years old. This is to prevent illegals coming here for the purpose of having a child, an anchor child.

Anchor baby or jackpot baby are terms used to refer to a child born in the United States to illegal aliens or other non-citizens. Such a child is legally a citizen of the United States. The term refers to a resident alien's child's role in facilitating "chain migration" under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965. Immigration reductionists claim that the baby would become the "anchor" of a chain by which its family may receive benefits from social programs, and by which the parents may themselves eventually become lawful permanent residents or citizens of the United States. Anchor baby has been characterized by some as a derogatory term.

A US-born child cannot in fact sponsor his/her parents for legal immigration to the United States until he/she becomes an adult, and illegal immigrant parents do not gain any additional legal rights based solely on the fact that they have had a child born in the US. - Wikipedia

Nobody said that she could not have her child rejoin her in Mexico. However, as a US Citizen, he is welcome to stay here. Some have suggested removing the awarding of citizenship by birth to children of illegal aliens. I don't think that is a good idea in that it punishes the child who has done nothing wrong. One way to tackle this issue is to make parents who have their children in the US while here illegally ineligible from even obtaining legal US Residence.

We do not know who the father of her child is. The only reason I can see for her concealing his identity is to ease obtaining US Government assistance as a single mother for her child.

Mexico and the US Governments are the Immigration Problem - 25 May 2007
Fighting Illegal Immigration is easier than anyone is willing to admit - 18 June 2005


(President of Mexico and Elvira Arellano)

Note: If you want to solve the Mexico illegal alien problem, but not build a fence, then offer all Mexicans a Green card. Maybe, if all the Mexicans leave, the Mexican Government will learn to appreciate having them back at home. Then again, sending back a couple million Elvira Arellanos might be a driving force for change as well. They were so eager to protest in Los Angeles, they should be no less eager to protest in Mexico City.

P.P.S.
Mexico is one country that would benefit from being more American.