TIJUANA, Mexico — A Mexican immigrant rights advocate who gained international attention in 2007 when she was deported from the United States has presented herself to U.S. border inspectors and asked for asylum as part of a protest to demand an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws and an end to deportations.
Elvira Arellano and another 20 Mexican and Central American migrants crossed Tuesday into the United States from the border city of Tijuana.
Arellano, 38, led the fourth such group to try to enter the U.S. at the Otay Mesa border crossing in San Diego and ask for asylum in the last nine days.
Arellano says she wants asylum because she has received threats in Mexico because of her activism and because she wants a better future for her U.S.-born son.
