Chicago immigration case highlights airport security debate

By Annie Nelson
Adelante Staff Writer

It was 8:30 a.m. on March 20 when Elvira Arellano, 28, of Chicago, Ill., thought she was going to lose her son forever. Eight immigration officials had come to take her into immigration custody after being arrested on Dec. 10, 2002, at O’Hare Airport in Chicago for being an undocumented immigrant employed with false identification.
“They came to my house – eight officers” she said. “They asked to bring their guns into the house. They said they were going to arrest me and put my son in state custody.”
Arellano was one of 50 undocumented immigrants arrested in the Chicagoland Skies raid, the Chicago operation of the nationwide Operation Tarmac, an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in December. She spoke to Adelante in Queens, New York, during the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride. Arellano was one of dozens of immigrants who told their stories to the crowds along the Freedom Ride route.
BICE Chicago-area spokesperson Marilu Cabrera said the goal of the Chicagoland Skies raid was to check airport employees that had access to secure areas to make sure the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, did not happen again. “We need to know who these people are - the act of committing fraud does compromise security. The concern is someone like that could be easily compromised by an outside force,” said Cabrera.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights fears that operations like these are being used to target undocumented immigrants and not terrorist threats.
“Señora Arellano is just one of many immigrants becoming the scapegoat of national security,” said Marissa Graciosa, an ICIRR activist working closely with Arellano.
Orderly organization of immigration is the best homeland defense, Graciosa said. “We need to make sure we address what the real problem is – the broken immigration laws. What we need in this country is legalization,” Graciosa said.
Cabrera would not say if there would be more raids of U.S. airports, but said the BICE will be checking people who are employed in secure areas.
Originally Arellano was going to be deported on Sept. 18, 2002. Arellano’s order of deportation was delayed after Sen. Richard Durbin and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, both of Illinois, filed a private bill on Arellano’s behalf in Congress. The bill, “For the Relief of Elvira Arellano,” requested that she be granted legal residency and to be considered to have entered and remained lawfully in the United States.
The bill is currently under consideration by both House and Senate judiciary committees. Her deportation order will be delayed until the bill comes to a vote.
“I am happy I am not alone,” Arellano said when asked about the legislation filed on her behalf. “They are looking for terrorists. I am not a terrorist. I am fighting for my child and a better life.”
Arellano’s 4 ½-year-old son Saul was recently diagnosed with severe Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, and according to the ICIRR he needs to remain in the United States to receive proper care and treatment. Arellano said that if her bill does not reach the Senate floor, she will have to return to Mexico, and her son Saul will come with her.
Arellano feels it is unjust to deny her the right to work, and that she is only trying to support her son, who is an American citizen. “My son is a citizen – he has the same rights as Bush. I am fighting for him,” said Arellano.