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Elvira Arellano, an undocumented Mexican woman who sought sanctuary in a Chicago church, was arrested and deported Sunday in Los Angeles. Accompanied by her eight year old US-born son Saul, Arellano had left Chicago to speak on behalf of immigrant rights over the weekend in Los Angeles area churches. After leaving Our Lady Queen of Angels Church on Sunday, ICE agents in vans reportedly encircled the car Arellano was traveling in. She was then arrested and taken to an immigration processing center in Santa Ana before being deported to Mexico. Her son, who was present at the time of his mother\u2019s arrest, was left in the custody of her traveling companions including Pastor Walter Coleman. According to an interview in the Chicago Tribune, Arellano noted that a return to the United States was unlikely. She was hoping to remain in the US long enough to attend the nation\u2019s capitol on September 12th for a prayer and fast for humane immigration reform. Elvira Arellano had been deported once before, but reentered the US only to be convicted of using a false social security number while employed in Chicago\u2019s O\u2019Hare International airport. Facing a deportation order, she sought sanctuary in a local church where she stayed for a year and garnered national media attention. In a statement released by ICE, Arellano was described as a \u201chigh-profile criminal fugitive alien,\u201d and that cases such as hers are among the agency\u2019s top priorities. <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/graphics8.nytimes.com\/images\/2006\/08\/19\/us\/19sanc190.2.jpg\"\/)
GUEST: Arnoldo Garcia, Director of the Immigrant Justice and Rights Program at the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights<\/em><\/p>\n