The deportation of Elvira Arellano

Immigration officials' deportation of activist Elvira Arellano to Mexico has touched off rallies and calls for immigration reform that includes more lenient treatment for those here illegally.

Clearly the nation needs comprehensive immigration reform -- with fully secured borders, penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants and a path to citizenship for those who qualify and agree to meet rigorous conditions.

But Arellano, deported Monday, is not now and never has been the ideal poster person for those trying to convince U.S. citizens that existing immigration law is too harsh.

For openers, Arellano's effectiveness in this role is irreparably damaged by her record, which includes a conviction for using a false Social Security number to obtain a job cleaning planes at O'Hare International Airport.

U.S. citizens generally understand that many who enter the country illegally do so to seek economic opportunity. What few citizens can either understand or accept is the trafficking in stolen identities that permits many illegal immigrants to land jobs. This often is not a victimless crime and is, in fact, precisely the sort of violation that deeply offends many Americans.

Beyond that, Arellano hardly typifies the life of most illegal immigrants in the Chicago area. Deported once before and then convicted on the false identity charges, she invited national attention when she sought sanctuary in a Chicago church for a full year and all but dared immigration authorities to come and get her.

Immigration officials wisely left her alone in the church, but Arellano, by choosing to assume such a high profile, openly challenged federal authorities at every step, even conducting a news conference when she decided to leave the Chicago church last week to head for Los Angeles.

Activists who support Arellano are angry at her arrest and deportation, but what, really, did anyone expect immigration authorities to do in a high-profile case in which a previously deported and convicted person so openly flouted the law?

Arellano is, by her choice, a high-profile personality. Her arrest and deportation do not signal a wave of arrests and deportations of the millions of illegal immigrants quietly going about their daily business.

Arellano's case does raise questions of so-called anchor babies, such as her 8-year-old son, a U.S. citizen by virtue of being born on U.S. soil. Some activists say deportation in such instances cruelly divides families, an assertion that would resonate more convincingly if many illegal immigrants did not initiate family divisions by entering the U.S. alone in the first place. Arellano, accused by some critics of exploiting her young son in pursuit of her own cause, did leave her son behind Monday, but, again, did so of her own volition.

Yes, immigration reform remains a pressing need, but perhaps more so in spite of the saga of Elvira Arellano than because of it.