Activists try to stop illegal immigration

NEW YORK, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Actress Adrienne Shelly is being turned into the poster girl for an immigration crackdown after being killed by an illegal alien last month in New York.

A group of activists planned a Wednesday memorial outside the Greenwich Village building where Diego Pillco, an Ecuadoran native and illegal immigrant, killed her, the New York Post reported.

Shelly was reportedly beaten to death and hung from a shower rod in an attempt to make the death look like suicide.

Pillco had been working construction at the building where Shelly kept her office.

The activists say her death could have been avoided if the United States enforced its immigration laws, and stopped human smuggling and the hiring of illegal workers.

"Currently, it's against the law to hire an illegal alien," said Joanna Marzullo, a spokeswoman for New Yorkers for Immigration Control and Enforcement. "So Diego shouldn't have been working and the employer committed a crime."

Marzullo said she expects about 20 people to attend the memorial and vigil.