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Elvira Arellano, a Mexican woman whose yearlong stay inside a Chicago church made her a lightning rod in the nation's immigration debate, on Sunday returned to the sanctuary, saying she plans to live there until a hearing later this year when she will ask again to be allowed to stay.

For me, this is my house, Arellano said in Spanish after the service at Adalberto United Methodist Church. I consider it my home.

Her journey back to the city after being deported to Mexico in 2007 began last week, when she crossed into the U.S. with her sons, 5-month-old Emiliano and 15-year-old Saul, along with dozens of mostly young deportees near San Diego to protest U.S. immigration laws and deportation practices.

A two-day detention led to the scheduling of an immigration hearing for September, when she can again plead her case to stay in the U.S., said her attorney, Chris Bergin. In the meantime,

Arellano was allowed to travel and arrived in Chicago on Sunday.

Not even I imagined that I'd be able to return, she said in Spanish on Sunday after getting off a plane at Midway Airport. But thank God I'm here.

Arellano said she wants to continue to speak out about immigration reform and hopes to remain in the country with her children. Her son Saul, who is a U.S. citizen, continued to live in the U.S. after Arellano was deported but soon returned to Mexico to reunite with her. He now travels between the two countries, spending summers in the U.S., Bergin said. Emiliano is not an American citizen.

Arellano wants her two sons to grow up in the U.S., not only for a better education but also because it's safer, Bergin added.

The fight doesn't stop when a mother is separated from her son, Arellano said. The fight stops when we don't want to be part of it. As long as the immigration politics of President (Barack) Obama don't change, we'll continue to see this type of activism in favor of families so they can return home.

At the airport and at two church services Sunday, Arellano was greeted by many supporters. Some displayed signs welcoming her and her sons, while others gave gifts and balloons.

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ANALYSIS/OPINION:

This is a conversation on comprehensive immigration reform in which columnist Armstrong Williams asks questions of Mike Cutler, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and an adviser to the American Council for Immigration Reform on issues concerning immigration issues that relate to national security.

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Q. Many people at the highest levels of government and industry have taken a cynical and duplicitous approach to illegal immigration. In a way, its symbolic of the approach most average Americans have taken. We rely on immigrant labor to fill jobs that Americans wont do as a result of the meager wages and perhaps undesirable working conditions, while complaining about the side effects over-exhausted social services, ever-multiplying crime rates, and a grave cultural dilution in the Border States. Do you believe that Comprehensive Immigration Reform would solve these problems or make them worse?

A. There are several components to your question, so lets get started by dispelling the notion that the U.S. has just four border states. Whenever the immigration issue is discussed, the focus of the conversation usually turns to the border that is supposed to separate the U.S. and Mexico. Make no mistake about it, that border is an important component to the immigration system, but it is only one component. Whenever I am asked about the need to build a fence on the border, I respond by saying that the fence on that border is comparable to a wing on an airplane. Without the wing, the airplane will not fly, however, a wing by itself goes nowhere. In my view, there are actually 50 border states. Any state that has an international airport or access to Americas coastline has to be considered as much a border state as are those states that lie along Americas northern and southern borders.

The southwest border has to be secured. That border is very unique and is the only place on our planet where the First World collides with the Third World. That border poses a threat to national security and all of the challenges that illegal immigration creates for America and Americans, but fixing the immigration system will require far more than a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border.

In point of fact, an estimated 40 percent of the illegal aliens in the U.S. did not run over our borders and enter the country without inspection. Rather, they were lawfully admitted into the U.S., and then in one way or another, violated the terms of their admission by remaining after their authorized period expired, accepting illegal employment, failing to attend schools for which they were admitted to attend, or otherwise failing to abide their terms of admission.

You are absolutely right that illegal aliens are hired because they work for substandard wages and under substandard conditions. As an agent, I was outraged and often sickened by the conditions I found illegal aliens living and working in. Exploitation is disgusting. But it is vital to understand that the often-cited phrase, Illegal aliens do the work Americans wont do is not about the lack of American workers to do the work and do it well. It is about slashing wages, and in many instances, ignoring health and safety regulations.

Q. Do you agree with the premise that its not a challenge identifying the illegal immigrants in any number of neighborhoods, as they essentially stick out like that of a sore thumb. These aliens are the only people who will gladly and cost-effectively tend to your lawn, babysit your children, and run some of your favorite quick-stop restaurants. Illegal immigration in many ways is the simplest form of outsourcing for certain nonexportable jobs.

Up until now, the focus has been on curbing the supply. The approaches have ranged from the purely illogical like trying to erect a Great Wall of America along the Mexican border to the downright diabolical like private citizens forming vigilante groups and terrorizing brown people who may or may not be illegal immigrants. The recent Arizona law that revokes the business licenses of employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants is the first real measure focused on the demand side.

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WILLIAMS: A conversation on comprehensive immigration reform