Mexico's Congress was swayed by a seven-year-old boy on a mission to save his mom.
Second-grader Saul Arellano, a US citizen, appeared on Tuesday in Mexico's 500-member Chamber of Deputies to plead for help in lobbying Washington to stop the deportation of his mother, an illegal immigrant who has taken refuge in a Chicago church.
His efforts paid off, with a unanimous resolution calling on the administration of US President George W. Bush to suspend the deportation of Elvira Arellano and any other illegal immigrant parents of US citizens.
PHOTO: AP
If Bush agrees, it would "create a precedent that will benefit more than 4.9 million children who have been born in the United States and whose parents live under the threat of deportation," said Representative Jose Jacques, himself a migrant in the US for 33 years who has an American daughter and granddaughter.
Flashing cameras and swarms of reporters surrounded the boy as he entered the cavernous chamber. But instead of stepping up to the podium, he was swept into a side room, where he hid his face and ducked under a table after lawmakers rose from their seats to shake his hand.
"I think being so small he was kind of freaked," family friend Jesus Carlin said.
Saul then took the microphone and speaking softly in Spanish, described what he wanted from Mexico's lawmakers: "I want them to tell President Bush to end the deportations so that my mother and other families can stay together in the United States."
US federal officials say there is no right to sanctuary in a church under US law and nothing to prevent them from arresting Elvira Arellano, who has lived at the church since Aug. 15, the day she was supposed to surrender for deportation. But so far, they have not moved to seize her, and support for their case has grown among US politicians.
Arellano, 31, said she was nervous about sending her son, who has never traveled to Mexico. Saul was afraid his mother would be deported while he was gone.
"I told him to be calm, everything would be fine and I would be here waiting for him," she said.
Mexican President Vicente Fox failed during his six-year term to persuade the US Congress to approve a migration accord which would thousands of Mexicans to work legally in the US.
While Bush personally supports a temporary guest-worker program, Republicans in Congress opted to strengthen border security instead.
Arellano said she should not have to choose between leaving her son or taking away his rightful opportunities as an American. But conservative columnists and anti-illegal immigration activists say Arellano put herself and her son in this difficult position by repeatedly breaking the law.
Arellano illegally crossed into the US in 1997 and was sent back. She returned within days, living for three years in Oregon before moving to Chicago. Her current troubles began when she was arrested at O'Hare International Airport, where she worked as a cleaning woman.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
RSS