Boy leads protest over deported mother By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer




An 8-year-old boy whose mother was deported to Mexico led a chanting crowd of about 150 pro-immigration activists through the halls of Congress on Wednesday. Capitol Police arrested two demonstrators for disorderly conduct.

Saul Arellano and other children carried a banner that read: "Born in the USA. Don't take our moms and dads away."

The boy's mother, Elvira Arellano, was deported last month after taking refuge in a Chicago church for a year.

In Tijuana, Mexico, across the border from San Diego, Elvira Arellano spoke about her son to several dozen demonstrators. Saul was scheduled to join her there Thursday.

"He is a boy who has been suffering because the U.S. government told his mother she couldn't stay in their country anymore because she was undocumented," she said.

In Washington, activists clashed with police outside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, chanting and shouting for her to lead on immigration reform. Saul appeared to get enveloped in the shoving crowd.

Demonstrators taped two oversize letters to Pelosi's door — one in English and one in Spanish — warning her, "If Democrats expect our support in the next election, the Democrats must support us now."

Immigration reform legislation died in Congress this year and isn't expected to be revived anytime soon. Pelosi, D-Calif., was in Oregon on Wednesday for a forum on global warming.

The crowd went to Pelosi's office after a news conference where they prayed, denounced deportations and broke into chants of "Si, se puede!" or "Yes, we can!" Saul drew on a piece of paper and sometimes ducked behind a desk. Asked by a demonstrator whether he wanted to speak, he shook his head no.

The boy, wearing baggy jeans and a striped shirt and looking distracted, then joined other children at the front of an unruly procession through the halls and basements of two House office buildings. Behind him someone carried an icon of the Virgin of Guadalupe and two others held large flags, one Mexican and one Puerto Rican. At one point, a child hesitated to board an escalator, creating a bottleneck.

Protesters left the Cannon House Office Building after police threatened more arrests.

Elvira Arellano was in the U.S. illegally for several years before taking sanctuary at Chicago's Adalberto United Methodist Church, where she lived with her son for a year in defiance of a deportation order.

She left the church last month to speak to other immigrants around the country and was arrested in Los Angeles by immigration authorities. They deported her to Tijuana, where she has been promoting an overhaul to U.S. immigration laws.

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Why the fuck should non-Americans have any say in our political or legal process?

Answer that.


They have no right to tell us who we can or can not let in America or under what terms. It is not there right as a foreign citizen. Enough said.






Id quit my job right now and pick lettuce for 50 bucks an hour. Shit thats a raise from my current wages.

Thats the nature of politics! You are probably to young to remember back in in 88 when Republican strategist Lee Atwater and the GOP trotted out the Willie Horton race card to appeal too, motivate, and scare white southern racist to get to polls to vote! Willie Horton race card actually helped get HW Bush elected in 88. Rove was a Lee Atwater protégé' and has used many of the dirty politics learned from Atwater to help get Bush elected in 2000 and 2004.

However, while Lee Atwater was on his death bed while loosing his battle with a brain tumor.....he actually repented and apologized for using Willie Horton in the manner that he did.

Karl Rove was eager to reach out to Hispanic voters. But the whites the G.O.P. has counted on to vote their color, not their economic interests, are having none of it. From their point of view, it’s us versus them — and everyone who looks different is one of them.

Today’s G.O.P., in short, is trapped by its history of cynicism. For decades it has exploited racial animosity to win over white voters — and now, when Republican politicians need to reach out to an increasingly diverse country, the base won’t let them.

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AMERICA LAND OF THE FREE HOME OF THE BRAVE--BECAUSE OF OUR CONSTITUTION.

Rastaman,i Didn't Recall This,then Again In 88 I Was Seventeen,i Quess You Could Say I Was More Interested In Chasing Girls Than The Politics Of The World Back Then,however That Has Changed Abit Today,don't Get Me Wrong I Still Like Chasing Woman,but My Main Focus Now Is Trying To Make A Difference.thanks For The Insight!