After making national headlines for taking refuge with her son in a Chicago church more than eight years ago, Elvira Arellano is back in the U.S. to fight for undocumented immigrants like herself.

Back in 2006, the Mexican mother lived inside of the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Humboldt Park for a year in order to avoid deportation and being separated from her eldest son, who is a United States citizen. During that time, Arellan become a lightning rod in the national immigration debate, before she was deported to Mexico in 2007.

On Sunday, she returned to the sanctuary, saying she plans to live there until she has a hearing later this year that will determine if she will be allowed to stay in the country.

"For me, this is my house," Arellano said in Spanish after church service, according to the Chicago Tribune. "I consider it my home."

Last week, Elvira Arellano crossed into California from Mexico with her sons, 5-month-old Emiliano and 14-year-old Saul, along with a group of deportees to protest U.S. immigration laws and deportation practices. She turned herself in to immigration officials, seeking a humanitarian visa. She and Emiliano were then released after being held for two days. She was also scheduled for an immigration hearing in September. In the meantime, Arellano was allowed to travel and returned to Chicago on Sunday.

"I am so happy to be here to be part of the dream my son has, but I cannot forget those faces of those children that were waiting for her when she got out of detention hoping also that their mother would be able to come out," she said, reports CBS News.

"Not even I imagined that I'd be able to return, but thank God I'm here," she said in Spanish on Sunday at the Midway Airport.

According to Arellano's lawyer, Chris Bergin, the mother wants her two sons to grow up in the U.S.so they can receive a better education and because it's safer. Her attorney added that he believes she'll be granted asylum and allowed to stay in the U.S because she has become a target in Mexico due to human rights activities.

"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 Obama don't change, we'll continue to see this type of activism in favor of families so they can return home."

Pastor Emma Lozano praised Arellano's activism. "She's no different from Rosa Parks to confront a broken law," she said.

Arellano's legal saga iniatially began in 2002 after she was arrested during a federal sweep at O'Hare International Airport where she worked cleaning planes. She was convicted of using a fake Social Security number and scheduled to report to the government in the summer of 2006 but took refuge inside the church instead.

In 2007, Arellano left the church to go to an immigration reform rally in another state where she was arrested by federal authorities.  

Her older son, who is now 14, called his mother a hero. 

"It was difficult because I was a little kid," said Saul. "I wanted her to go to a party with me, but she wouldn't because she was in sanctuary. Now seven years later, my mom is back."