Flor Crisostomo, 28, is an illegal immigrant who came to the United States in 2000, after paying a smuggler to drive her across the Mexico border. Nothing unusual one would say, as the U.S. struggles with millions of illegal immigrants each year. Flor’s story isn’t different from the stories of other immigrants who came to the U.S. in search of a better life; instead, Flor wants to make a difference and change the U.S. immigration laws.

Following the example of Elvira Arellano, who became known for her fight with the deportation authorities one year ago, the young Mexican woman moved on January 28 into the Adalberto United Methodist Church, located in a predominantly Spanish neighborhood, in order to avoid deportation and oppose to the immigrant laws of the United States.

The federal immigration officials arrested Flor in 2006, after a raid at her workplace in Chicago. The woman now refuses to go back to Mexico and says she is aware that she faces either deportation or imprisonment, but working in the U.S. means she can provide for her two children, aged 9 and 14, who are currently depending on the $300 she sends from time to time, after reducing her spending here to a minimum.

The woman says this is the only way she can offer her children a normal life, and that it is far from offering them luxury, but rather a mean to survive. Flor said through a translator that she was forced to leave Mexico because she was unable to find a job there that would have allowed her to take care of her children.

Flor’s case is not a singular one, unfortunately her desperate call for understanding and tolerance will probably end with her deportation. It is very likely that her temporary sanctuary will not protect her from being forced to return to Mexico, but she says at least her message will be heard and perhaps one day the immigration laws in U.S. will change.