Remember the chatty church squatter who hid among Chicago pews to escape La Migra? After much noisy drama, convicted felon Elvira Arelleno was finally repatriated to her nation of actual citizenship in 2007. But that's not the last chapter of the story — far from it.

In fact, Elvira should be an inspiration to all illegal aliens that deportation is not the end of opportunity for a better life, but is merely a change in circumstance. Look how well Elvira is doing: she has parlayed her endless complaints about American immigration laws (always a favorite topic in victimhood-obsessed Mexico) into a run for the national legislature. She has name recognition, issues and copious press coverage — heck, she is practically elected. [Elvira Arellano Runs for Mexican Congress, New America Media, May , 2009]

Among the better known candidates running for Congress is Elvira Arellano, the deported activist from the United States who came to symbolize the face of the new immigrant movement. Taking refuge in a Chicago church in August 2006, Arellano defied a deportation order and US immigration authorities for one year in an unsuccessful attempt to remain with her young son. In August 2007, she was arrested and sent back to Mexico after appearing at an immigrant rights rally in Los Angeles.

Almost two years later, Arellano is on the campaign trail in Tijuana, Baja California, where she is the candidate for Congressional District #4 on the ticket of the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

Keeping true to her word to keep the migrant issue alive in the public eye, the energetic activist is stressing immigrant rights issues in Mexico's 2009 political campaign. In comments last weekend, Arellano said she is especially concerned about the fate of women migrants who pass through Mexico on their way to the US, a journey that is often fraught with sexual assaults and other abuses.

"I am going to seek laws in Congress that protect women, and also that protect undocumented Central Americans who are treated like criminals in Mexico," Arellano said.

You go, Elvira! Mexican women need better protection from piggyman  Mexican males: how about more women-only buses that are free of groping. There's a lot that needs fixing in Mexico, and Elvira's innate intransigence could be an asset.

How wonderful for Elvira that her beloved homeland has offered her so much hope. The Mexican Dream is alive and well, as shown by Elvira Arellano.