Jeanette Vizguerra is facing deportation after she was detained by federal authorities on Monday, March 17.
The activist became a symbol for the immigrant rights movement during the first Trump administration after she took sanctuary in a Denver church for nearly three months in 2017.
Now, she is the target of the Trump administration’s latest high-profile immigration case.
What happened to Jeanette Vizguerra?
Vizguerra was arrested at about 11 a.m. Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while on her lunch break at a Target store, according to her friends and family.
Her detention set off a mad scramble among activists, attorneys and the family of Vizguerra, who also goes by Vizguerra-Ramirez. Vizguerra's lawyer filed a petition with the U.S. district court for Colorado on Tuesday morning seeking to stop any deportation actions.
At times, supporters didn't know where Vizguerra was. Officials initially told the family she had been taken to the airport — though it was confirmed later on Tuesday morning that she remained at the Aurora facility, which is run by the private company GEO.
Vizguerra's family asked ICE to let the case play out in court.
"There is no reason to target her. Nothing has changed in her case except the administration. It’s clear to us now that the government of our country is targeting our mom in violation of her rights and due process, for her bravery and courage, for her leadership and skill, for her speech," they said in a statement.
What has Jeanette Vizguerra’s legal team done?
Lawyers for Jeanette Vizguerra on Tuesday asked a federal judge to take over her case and release their client immediately saying the federal government had no statutory authority to take the immigrant advocate into detention earlier this week.
Laura Lichter, who represents Vizguerra, named Department of Homeland Security officials, including U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in the federal court filing
Lichter alleged that Vizguerra’s detention violates the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution and asked for a hearing where ICE officials would have to show cause for holding her. They say she is being wrongfully held.
Who is Jeanette Vizguerra?
Vizguerra had been living in the Denver metro for nearly two decades when she entered sanctuary, first in Denver's First Unitarian Society and then in First Baptist Church, on Feb. 15, 2017.
Vizguerra feared that she would be deported at a scheduled check-in with immigration authorities, which had recently happened to other immigrants. She did not attend the check-in.
Vizguerra was granted a new stay of deportation that allowed her to leave the church on May 12, 2017, after 86 days in sanctuary. It wasn’t clear exactly what changed, but she likely benefited from a public campaign to help her and other immigrants seeking sanctuary.
Her legal status has remained in limbo.
Vizguerra has been a regular face at protests in the years since. She has also been a vocal advocate in Facebook groups meant to spread the word about ICE’s actions in the metro area.
She was named one of Time Magazine’s “100 most influential people” in April 2017. Actress America Ferrera wrote her blurb on the list.
CPR News' and Denverite's full coverage of this story appears on Denverite.com.
