More than a year ago, when Elvira Arellano, a Mexican and the single mother of a U.S.-born son, was deported to Mexico, I wondered who would care for her son. She had been a cleaning woman at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. But then, after she was arrested and told to appear before immigration authorities, she took refuge in a Chicago church for a year rather than be deported. When she left the church to give a speech in Los Angeles, she was arrested and deported. Saul had participated in rallies and met with Washington politicians in a campaign to persuade U.S. immigration officials to let his mother stay in the United States.
A Washington Post article published yesterday says that Saul, 9, now lives with his mother in Mexico. So he didn’t stay in the United States, as some children who have U.S. citizenship do when their parents are deported.
The article, “Mixed-Status Families Look to Obama,” talks about how some families with both documented and undocumented members hope that Barack Obama, when he becomes president, will push for legislation that addresses immigration reform and enables the undocumented members of such families to become legal.