Mexican Immigration Activist Who Hid in Colorado Church for Years to Avoid Deportation Arrested by ICE

A well-known immigration activist who hid in a Colorado church for years to avoid deportation has been arrested, a move Denver Mayor Mike Johnston called “Soviet-style persecution” of political dissidents.

Jeanette Vizguerra, a mother, Target employee and immigration reform advocate, was taken into custody in Aurora on Monday. Vizguerra was the subject of a deportation order and had multiple stays preventing her removal, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.

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Vizguerra has a long history with immigration authorities. In 2009, she was the subject of an ICE detainer in Denver. That same year, she was convicted of second-degree forged instrument possession and sentenced to 23 days in jail.

In March 2009, after being released by ICE, she was convicted of failure to display proof of insurance, driving without a license and ordered to pay fines.

In 2011, a federal immigration judge denied Vizguerra’s application for relief from immigration proceedings, but granted her a voluntary departure. {snip}

In September 2012, she voluntarily returned to her native Mexico. She was arrested in 2013 by ICE in El Paso, Texas and ordered to be deported.

She was eventually released because she didn’t meet the agency’s priorities for removal under policies at the time.

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