Jeanette Vizguerra, an undocumented mother who has been in sanctuary in a Denver area church, was just named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world. Her attorney:
"Jeanette Viguerra's courage -- as an immigrant, a mother, and a survivor of crime -- to stand true against the nativism of the Trump administration serves as a humbling reminder of what the real American values of courage, dedication, and perseverance look like.”
Under the Obama administration, the mom of four—three are U.S. citizens—checked in regularly with ICE and was considered a low priority for deportation. But following Donald Trump’s inauguration, Jeanette feared the next ICE meeting would lead to her arrest, and she took sanctuary in the church the night before the scheduled check-in. She has been there for 65 days now.
“Tonight I have to think,” she said at the time. “Because I promised my children—and it was a promise—that it was going to be very difficult to remove me from this country. I have already fought so long to be here, now is not the time to give up.”
ICE policy states that “places of worship, such as churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples” are generally off-limits to immigration agents, but what ICE says and what ICE does are two different things. Earlier this year, six immigrants were arrested as they left a church-run hypothermia shelter in Virginia, with one witness saying that “it happened really fast, it was like a kidnapping.”
Following Time’s announcement, Jeanette took a huge risk and stepped outside the church doors to thank members of the community for their ongoing support. In one hand, she held a Time certificate marking her achievement. In the other, she held a copy of the 2016 tax return she dutifully filed: