Now that illegal immigrant Elvira Arellano was arrested and deported late Sunday after receiving sanctuary in a Chicago church for the past year, the spotlight is on those churches who aid and abet law breaking.

In Los Angeles County, where the undocumented, single mother was arrested outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church in downtown L.A., more than a dozen churches have declared themselves sanctuaries for illegal immigrants facing deportation.

Interesting how “single mother” is considered a relevant descriptive, all the better to conjure pity.

Arellano’s case was widely followed in the Spanish-language media and goes to the heart of what many activists say is a broken immigration system’s most troubling byproduct: the ripping apart of families.

She is free to bring her son back to Mexico. She’s doing the ripping.

“People come here for one simple reason. This is the largest economy in the world,” said Juan Jose Gutierrez, co-coordinator of Latino Movement USA, a national coalition of pro-immigrant-rights organizations. “They come here out of desperation and need, and to put food on the table.”

Exactly. Why not focus on reforming Mexico? Illegal immigration is not just an insult to American laws, it’s a band aid on a gaping wound. Mexico does not have to be poor.

Still, more LA churches plan to offer sanctuary:

At San Pablo in North Hollywood, the Rev. Cesar Arroyo, pastor, said Monday that before taking Juan in, the church ensured that he had been working, paying taxes, had no criminal record and had U.S.-born children.

“That is the church’s work, to help those in need,” Arroyo said. “The Bible says honor thy neighbor. Well, today, Juan is my neighbor.”

No, Mexicans living in Mexico are our neighbors. Mexicans living illegally in California are squatters.