Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Jeanette Vizguerra, an illegal alien living in Colorado, who has allegedly spent years dodging deportation.
In a Facebook post, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Coloradans For Immigrant Rights, wrote that Vizguerra was “suddenly taken into ICE custody.”
Vizguerra, who “sought sanctuary at a Denver church to avoid” being deported during President Donald Trump’s first term, was reportedly taken into custody by ICE agents on Monday evening, according to Denver7 News.
“ICE detained Jeanette without warning and appears to be ready to deport her even though the agency knows they don’t have a valid deportation order,” AFSC & Coloradans For Immigrant Rights wrote in the post. “Her attorneys have raised the serious legal errors, but so far, it looks like ICE is committed to ripping her away from her family and community without any concern for her due process rights.”
In an update it was revealed that “Jeanette’s family received a call from her confirming” that she was still in the detention center.
The outlet noted that Vizguerra has been living in the United States “for nearly 30 years” and has been “convicted of two misdemeanors”:
Vizguerra, who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 30 years after escaping violence in Mexico City in 1997 with her husband and her then-6-year-old daughter, has been previously convicted of two misdemeanors during her time in the country.
In February 2009, Vizguerra was convicted of criminal possession of a forged instrument for having a fake Social Security card. At the time, Vizguerra said her Social Security card was made up of digits from her birth date, and did not belong to another person. She ended up serving a 23-day sentence after her conviction.
Four years later, in May 2013, she was convicted of illegal entry after going back to Mexico for her mother’s funeral and returning to the United States. Her attorney said she was sentenced to a year of supervised probation for that case.
NBC News reported that Vizguerra, who works as an immigration advocate, was arrested “outside her job at a Target in Aurora.”
“Jeanette Vizguerra is a mom of American citizens, a Target employee, a nonprofit leader and an immigration reform advocate with no violent criminal history,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) wrote in a post on X. “Her detainment is not about safety. This is Putin-style persecution of political dissidents.”
In a Time Magazine article listing the 100 most influential people of 2017, actress America Ferrera described Vizguerra as having “shed blood, sweat and tears to become a business owner” and to try to “give her children more opportunities than she had.”
While Democrats such as Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) argued that they were “concerned about ICE’s actions to detain her without any due process” and added that ICE “should ensure” Vizguerra “has legal counsel and immediately release her,” John Fabbricatore, a retired ICE field office director noted that she “has had due process numerous times.”
“No. She is a criminal and has had due process numerous time,” Fabbricatore wrote in a post on X. “She has lied and circumvented our immigration laws for over 15 years. She has a deportation order. She was ordered deported. Left to ‘visit her mom’ in Mexico and re-entered the US. She is a reinstatement case if she is no longer a final order. She has no right to see a judge as a re-entry. She continuously breaks the law because you and other democrats constantly coddle her.”
In a press release, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) stated that Vizguerra “has no history of violence” and “is not a threat to the community.” Polis also called on Trump and ICE “to focus their actions on violent offenders and be more transparent with states they are operating in.”
“I have met with and know Jeanette Vizguerra,” Polis said in a statement. “Jeanette is a mother and grandmother, has spent decades in our country, helping the community, has a job, has no history of violence, is not a threat to the community, and above all else, deserves due process pursuant to the law. I continue to urge President Trump and ICE to focus their actions on violent offenders and be more transparent with state they are operating in, including being transparent about the cost and impact of detentions, raids, and the cost to taxpayers.”
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