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Home > Press Room > 2007 > Press Release
Press Release
LULAC Request President Bush to
Grant “Clemency” to Elvira Arellano.
Elvira is an icon of the
Immigration Rights Movement.
August 23, 2007
Contact:
Lizette J. Olmos, 202-833-6130 ext. 16
Washington, DC - The League of
United Latin American Citizens, the largest and
oldest Hispanic membership organization today
issued the following statement in response to
the deportation Monday of immigration rights
activists and mother Elvira Arellano:
“The Constitution pursuant to
the powers under Article II, Section 2, gives
the President the power of clemency to be used
when it is deemed to be warranted. LULAC is
urging President Bush in the name of family
reunification and Comprehensive Immigration
Reform to reunite Elvira Arellano with her son
Saul Arellano, a United States Citizen by
granting her clemency. Although, we do not
condone Elvira’s defiance of immigration law,
she is a symbol of the problems we have with a
broken immigration system. Elvira Arellano puts
a face on this human issue that has touched each
of us in some way.
This case has generated
significant national and international
commentary and debate on both sides of the
issue. Even Members of Congress have weighed in
on the issue. Congressman Luis Guiterrez (D-IL)
introduced HR 1557 “Permanent Residence Status
for Elvira Arellano” and Congressman Bobby Rush
(D-IL) introduced HR 2182 “For the Relief of
Juan Carlos Arreguin, Martin Guerrero Barrios,
Maria I. Benitez….” These bills are currently
pending in Congress for action to be taken.
Critics argue that we need
Comprehensive Immigration Reform now and this
has reenergized the movement for reuniting
families in a timely fashion by streamlining our
outdated immigration policies. Other
conservative commentators such as Bill O’Reilly
also agree this week in a MEMO, “This case
demonstrates the emotions involved in
controlling illegal immigration.” The MEMO also
expresses remorse for the separation of the
young boy from his mother. Even opponents of
immigration reform realize that it is a problem
that needs to be addressed.
Both critics and defenders of
this case have made important points. We have
made our own evaluation. LULAC has carefully
weighed these arguments and the circumstances
surrounding the case. We have come to the
conclusion that more than ever before we need
comprehensive immigration reform now. This is a
dark time in our nation’s history when we have
about 600,000 families where one or more parents
are threatened to be deported. There are 3
million children that can be taken by ICE at
anytime. There are about 3.1 million
American-born children of illegal immigrants,
according to an analysis by the Urban Institute
and the Pew Hispanic Center.
Immigration rights activists
are further unified and galvanized by this new
deportation of an icon. A reported 7,100
deportations occurred between October 2005 and
September 2006, the fiscal year tracked by the
federal government. Some 6,600 undocumented
immigrants were returned home between October
2004 and September 2005.
There will be another rally
coined “A Day Without Immigrants” in Washington,
DC on the National Mall, Wednesday, September
12th with Elvira’s son Saul Arellano in
attendance. The voyage started in Los Angeles
and heads to the east coast with various
organizations and followers participating in the
movement for immigrant rights.
We ask the Congress come back
to the table when they return from recess in
September for a solution to Comprehensive
Immigration Reform,” said LULAC National
President Rosa Rosales.
The League of United Latin
American Citizens, the largest and oldest
Hispanic membership organization in the country,
advances the economic conditions, educational
attainment, political influence, health and
civil rights of Hispanic Americans through
community-based programs operating at more than
700 LULAC councils nationwide.
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