August 20, 2007

ICE deports high-profile criminal fugitive alien to Mexico
Woman who sought refuge in Chicago church arrested during weekend trip to L.A.

LOS ANGELES - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that a criminal fugitive alien who spent a year seeking to elude federal capture inside a Chicago church has been deported to Mexico following her arrest by ICE here yesterday afternoon.

Elvira Arellano, 32, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested by ICE officers Sunday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles. Arellano was taken into custody without incident based upon an order of removal originally issued in 1997.

After being processed at ICE's staging facility in Santa Ana, Calif., Arellano was transported 100 miles to the border crossing at San Ysidro, Calif., where she was turned over to Mexican immigration officials late yesterday. ICE coordinated closely with representatives from the Mexican consulate to ensure Arellano's safety during the evening repatriation.

Arellano's U.S. citizen son was with her at the time of her arrest. At Arellano's request, he was left in the custody of her traveling companions, including Pastor Walter Coleman, the Pastor of the Chicago church where she had received sanctuary for the past year.

Following her removal in 1997, Arellano illegally re-entered the United States, a felony violation punishable by up to 20 years in prison. In 2002, ICE agents arrested Arellano at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, where she was working illegally for a janitorial services business whose employees had access to security sensitive areas of the facility. Subsequently, Arellano was convicted of criminal charges for using another person's Social Security number to illegally obtain employment.

Identifying, arresting, and removing criminal aliens and immigration fugitives - aliens who have ignored court orders to leave the country - is one of ICE's top enforcement priorities. In the first 10 months of this fiscal year, the agency carried out more than 220,000 alien removals.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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