Illegal immigrant arrested after year in church sanctuary

LOS ANGELES – An illegal immigrant who sought sanctuary in a Chicago church for a year to avoid deportation and separation from her 8-year-old American son was arrested Sunday, the church’s pastor said.

Elvira Arellano was arrested before 3 p.m. outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church on L.A.’s historic Olvera Street, said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago where she sought sanctuary.

It was unclear what law enforcement agency had taken Arellano into custody.

The 32-year-old Arellano arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday, leaving her sanctuary for the first time in a year to campaign for immigration reform.

Arellano came to Washington state illegally in 1997. She was deported to Mexico shortly after, but returned and moved to Illinois in 2000.

She was arrested in 2002 at O’Hare and later convicted of working under a false Social Security number. She was to surrender to authorities last August.

Arellano sought refuge at the storefront church on Chicago’s West Side on Aug. 15, 2006. She had not left the church property until deciding to be driven to Los Angeles, Coleman said.