Activist immigrant takes shelter at new church

CHICAGO — Elvira Arellano, the illegal Mexican immigrant who avoided deportation for a year by taking refuge in a Chicago church, spoke from a different sanctuary Saturday, a Los Angeles church blocks from an immigration march.

Arellano, 32, who arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday, had planned to address demonstrators at the march but changed her mind. To avoid the possibility of being arrested and to avoid facing detractors, she said, she chose to speak instead from Our Lady Queen of Angels Church.

Arellano's 8-year-old son, Saul, who is a U.S. citizen, traveled to the West Coast separately. Arellano left Thursday night, a day after announcing she would travel to Washington for a September prayer vigil and fast on the National Mall.

Arellano, 32, said she felt compelled to leave her sanctuary church in Chicago because she had become frustrated "with my arms crossed" while families like hers were affected by raids and immigration crackdowns. "We can't just stay there quiet while seeing how all of this is affecting our families," she said.