Boy fights mom’s deportation

MEXICO CITY – An American second-grader fighting to prevent his migrant mother’s deportation from the United States took his battle to Mexico’s government on Monday, walking the halls of Congress in hiking boots and jeans to lobby lawmakers from his mother’s homeland for help.

Seven-year old Saul Arellano has been living with his single mother, an undocumented Mexican migrant, at the Adalberto United Methodist Church on Chicago’s West Side since Aug. 15 when she was scheduled to surrender to U.S. authorities for deportation.

“I want my mom to stay with me in the U.S.,” Saul said between meetings with Mexican lawmakers.

Saul, a U.S. citizen, said he planned to address Mexico’s Congress today. Several lawmakers who met with him informally said they would present a resolution asking their U.S. counterparts to stop Elvira Arellano, 31, from being deported, said Emma Lozano, the executive director of the Chicago-based immigration-rights group Centro Sin Fronteras who accompanied Saul on the trip.

So far, U.S. immigration authorities have made no attempt to arrest Saul’s mother. Her fight is being closely watched by legal experts and immigration activists on both sides of the border as it could affect more than 3 million children who are U.S. citizens but who have at least one parent in the country illegally.

While his mother stays inside the church, Saul has taken her battle to the outside world, speaking at conferences from Chicago to Los Angeles and writing letters to top U.S. politicians, including President Bush.

“I told President Bush to stop the deportations so families can stay together in the U.S.,” he said.

In a telephone interview, Elvira Arellano said, “It’s not just about me. I am the example for what thousands of Mexican families face here.”