Latest news with #JeanetteVizguerra
CBS News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Denver immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra 's daughters accept RFK award while she remains in ICE custody
Denver immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra was honored with a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award on Thursday. Two of her children traveled to the nation's capital to accept the award on her behalf. Vizguerra's detention by ICE is approaching 12 weeks. For Luna Baez Vizguerra, seeing her mother's release from the GEO facility in Aurora would be the best award of all right now. Jeanette Vizguerra was honored with a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and the award was accepted by her daughter Luna Baez Vizguerra. RFK Human Rights Award "I'm just very desperate, very frustrated, very eager for her to be out," said Baez Vizguerra. And yet, she's proud her mom now joins the ranks of global leaders recognized for "embodying Senator Robert F. Kennedy's belief in the power of courage to overcome injustice." Baez Vizguerra said, "They have taken some form of risk, some form of repercussion, people that play it safe, people that don't typically risk themselves, they don't go ahead and receive this." Jeanette Vizguerra entered the U.S. without authorization in 1997. In 2009, after a traffic stop, she was convicted of attempted possession of a forged instrument for using a fake Social Security number. Three of her four children were born in the U.S. Vizguerra gained national prominence in 2017 when she took refuge inside a church. Luna Baez Vizguerra accepted the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award on behalf of her mother Jeanette Vizguerra. RFK Human Rights Award "She chose to highlight and look at the injustices that every marginalized group faces in this country," said her daughter Luna. Luna's grown up seeing her mom's work as a union organizer, connecting other immigrants to resources, and speaking out against the immigration system she says is unjust in the way it separates families. ICE said Vizguerra is "a convicted criminal alien from Mexico who has a final order of deportation issued by a federal immigration judge. She has received legal due process in U.S. Immigration Court." But Vizguerra and her family believe it's her advocacy that caught the attention of immigration enforcement agents, who picked her up in March outside her job at Target. Jeanette Vizguerra, immigrant rights activist, poses for a portrait at First Unitarian Society of Denver in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday. January 26, 2021. Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images "She is a political prisoner," said Baez Vizguerra. "The reason that she was detained was because she is so outspoken. The typical person isn't posted on the ICE page in shackles because of a traffic infraction." Vizguerra's attorneys have a pending First Amendment free speech claim seeking her release. Baez Vizguerra said, "It's frustrating that they arrested her in the way that they did that. It's still targeted when, within our Constitution, the First Amendment is so highly spoken on. This is a country that was built on that." Last week, Vizguerra's attorneys filed a new motion to obtain her release on bond. In a recent filing, lawyers for ICE said that noncitizens cannot challenge a removal order on the basis that enforcement is selective.
CBS News
30-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Lawyers seek release of Jeanette Vizguerra, Colorado immigration activist, on bond
Lawyers for detained immigrant rights activist Jeanette Vizguerra are asking that she be released on bond or by an injunction pending a final judgement of her petition for habeas corpus, which challenges the legality of her detention. In a new filing in the federal district court of Colorado, her lawyers are requesting "her immediate release pending adjudication of her petition." While her case drags out in federal court, they say the harm to her, her family and community outweighs any harm her release would pose to the government. Jeanette Vizguerra ICE Vizguerra was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement more than 10 weeks ago. She is being held at the GEO facility in Aurora. Her lawyers say her activism and promotion of immigrant rights is viewed as a "threat to government overreach" and her arrest is a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech. Vizguerra has been in the United States for more than thirty years and has three children who were born here. "I'm just very desperate, very desperate for her to be out, you know, in whatever way possible, it's very scary for her to be in custody," said Vizguerra's daughter Luna Baez Vizguerra. "I never know what they might be capable of doing to her, more so because she does have a little bit more attention towards herself." In the new filing, Vizguerra provides a declaration where she described the effects of her detention, "I am worried about the impact on my kids, grandkids, and ex-partner, all of whom rely on me...I particularly fear for my ex-partner and my youngest daughter, who struggle the most when I am separated from them…Detention makes it nearly impossible for me to be the activist and organizer that I am, and not being able to be there for the community with so many difficult things coming from this administration, so much terror and confusion is devastating." In a recent filing, government lawyer's wrote, "The Supreme Court has determined that noncitizens cannot challenge the enforcement of a removal order based on a selective enforcement theory. Thus, Petitioner does not have a viable First Amendment retaliation challenge here." Upon her arrest on March 17, ICE issued a statement saying, "Vizguerra is a convicted criminal alien from Mexico who has a final order of deportation issued by a federal immigration judge. She illegally entered the United States near El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 24, 1997, and has received legal due process in U.S. immigration court." The government has 21 days to respond to the motion for bond.
CBS News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Colorado immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra named among recipients of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Awards
Colorado immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra has been named among this year's recipients of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Awards. The other recipients include Maine Governor Janet Mills and former DOJ Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer. According to the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights website, "Working as government representatives and grassroots activists, Mills, Oyer, and Vizguerra were selected for their moral courage and willingness to act on their convictions – even at great personal risk." Jeanette Vizguerra CBS Vizguerra is well known for her activism fighting for immigrant rights. She fled violence in Mexico City and has lived in the United States since 1997. She had sought refuge in a Denver church during President Donald Trump's first term. She was detained on March 17 and remains in an immigration detention facility in Aurora. "Recently, while detained in a detention center, I received the news that I had received this human rights award. I thank RFK Human Rights for this honor," said Vizguerra in a statement. "I work independently, using my own resources. With these resources, although limited, I believe I have made a difference in the movement for social justice. The government wants to silence my voice, but I will continue to sow rebellion until I reap freedom. This award is not only for me but for every person who has been involved in my life—especially my children and my immigrant community. I hope our voices are never silenced." Jeanette Vizguerra ICE They will be recognized during a public ceremony on June 5. According to the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights website, "The RFK Human Rights Award honors champions of social justice who stand up to oppression in the nonviolent pursuit of human rights. Honorees receive a cash prize and ongoing support for their work through RFK Human Rights campaigns and mobilization, strategic litigation, training and capacity-building, and more." The former director of the field office of the Denver office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement believes Vizguerra should not be allowed to stay in the U.S. or even apply for citizenship.
CBS News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Who is Jeanette Vizguerra, immigrant rights activist fighting deportation in Denver?
Jeanette Vizguerra, an immigrants' rights activist and herself an immigrant fighting deportation from Denver, has yet to face a federal court hearing to determine if her detention by immigration officials was lawful and if her deportation will go forward. Currently being held at the Aurora ICE Processing Center -- operated by the private prison company GEO Group -- Vizguerra came to Colorado from Mexico in 1997, working as a janitor before becoming a vocal advocate for the rights of immigrants in the United States. Current and former immigration officials say Vizguerra came to the U.S. illegally and has evaded deportation before. She and her supporters believe immigration officials are targeting Vizguerra for "political theater" and retribution for her activism and speech while ignoring dangerous criminals, who should instead be their focus. Who is Jeanette Vizguerra? A 53-year-old mother of four and grandmother, Vizguerra -- whose full name is Jeanette Baez Vizguerra-Ramirez -- fled violence in her former home of Mexico City. She came to Colorado in 1997 and worked as a janitor and union organizer in Denver. She entered the United States illegally but had applied for a visa in the hopes of getting a legal path to citizenship. A 2017 attempt to have her deported stemmed from a 2009 arrest for possessing a Social Security card so that she could work. She pleaded guilty to that charge in 2009, and in 2011, a federal immigration judge issued a final order of deportation, an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement spokesman said at the time. "The only thing that I've done is use false documents to put food on the table of my family," she said at the time through a translator. A 2011 Getty Images file photo shows undocumented Mexican immigrants Jeanette Vizguerra and her husband Salvador holding their 3-month-old daughter Zury in their family apartment on May 30, 2011 in Aurora, Colorado. John Moore / Getty Images For months throughout 2017, she took refuge in a Denver church, as places like churches and schools were long considered "sensitive locations," off limits to immigration officers. President Trump revoked that policy this year, just hours after his inauguration. Rev. Mike Morran of the First Unitarian Society of Denver said at the time that Vizguerra was welcome to stay at his church as long as necessary. "Away from her three children that need her, deporting her to a country she hasn't been in in 20 years. That punishment is obscene for the crime that was committed," Morran said. That 2017 deportation effort was blocked by a judge, delaying it until 2019, after countless community members, organizations, and members of Colorado's Congressional delegation, including Sen. Michael Bennet, Rep. Diana DeGette, and former Rep. Jared Polis, who's now governor, came to her defense. Former Denver Mayor Michael Hancock also urged federal leaders in 2017 to press immigration officials to process Vizguerra's visa application faster to avoid having her torn from her family. "It's a special day for me because I will be able to celebrate Mother's Day with my children and my grandchildren," Vizguerra said through a translator in a news conference at the time. "It's been three months -- very difficult months -- because even though I've been continuing my struggle from inside, I really miss my children." In 2017, the media attention her case was getting led to Time Magazine listing her as one of the 100 most influential people of the year. Jeanette Vizguerra, an undocumented mother of four, poses in the First Unitarian Society Church of Denver in Denver, Colorado, on Feb. 16, 2017. Chris Schneider/AFP via Getty Images In 2021, having been living in the church for about three years, she was told by the Department of Homeland Security that she would not be deported. Still, she worked for citizenship and a more permanent solution to the looming risk of deportation and family separation. This year, the Trump administration has doubled down on its immigration enforcement policies. The total number of deportations this year is not yet clear, but DHS said on March 13 that it had arrested 32,809 people in immigration-related actions, while some media outlets have reported over 100,000 people have been deported by the Trump administration so far in 2025. The agency has not responded to emailed questions from CBS News Colorado and ICE responded to a public records request with pre-2025 data. An appeal to that request is currently pending. Nonetheless, Trump administration officials have repeatedly said it was prioritizing the most violent and dangerous criminals in its search for undocumented immigrants, but included in the people who have been arrested, detained, deported, had visas revoked, or other action taken against them by DHS or ICE include legal residents, student activists, and asylum seekers. Vizguerra was arrested by ICE agents on March 17, sparking outrage and protests from her supporters across the Denver metro area. In May, Vizguerra was named one of the 2025 recipients of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Awards. What are critics saying? ICE confirmed last month that Vizguerra was arrested and said she's been granted due process in her proceedings. "Jeanette Vizguerra-Ramirez, 53, was arrested without incident March 17 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the United States," an ICE spokesman told CBS News Colorado last month. "Vizguerra is a convicted criminal alien from Mexico who has a final order of deportation issued by a federal immigration judge. She illegally entered the United States near El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 24, 1997, and has received legal due process in U.S. immigration court." That spokesman went on to provide a timeline of the agency's history with Vizguerra: She was taken into ICE custody in 2009 but released on bond. After a federal immigration judge ordered her to leave the U.S. in 2011, she failed to do so and later self-deported to Mexico in 2012, according to ICE. The following year, she was arrested while allegedly re-entering the country and convicted of a misdemeanor. Over the next decade, Vizguerra was granted several temporary stays of deportation, though several of her immigration petitions -- including for a visa and advance parole -- were denied. Former ICE Field Office Director John Fabbricatore testifies before a House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement hearing on restoring immigration enforcement in America, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP Last month, CBS Colorado sat down with John Fabbricatore -- former director of ICE's Denver field office and candidate for Congress for Colorado's 6th Congressional District in 2024 -- to discuss Vizguerra's case. She should not be allowed to stay in the U.S. or even apply for citizenship, in Fabbricatore's view. "If you enter illegally, there's no pathway to citizenship," he said. Fabbricatore says he met with Vizguerra and that she agreed to leave voluntarily before but then decided to stay in Denver. "She shook my hand on that deal, but instead of showing up at (Denver International Airport), she hid in a church again," he said. What are supporters saying? Vizguerra's efforts to stay in the United States have been supported by high-profile state and local officials, the church that gave her sanctuary, and countless others in the Denver area and beyond. In addition to Denver's former mayor Hancock, current mayor Mike Johnston called Vizguerra's arrest last month "a plain abuse of power." "This is not immigration enforcement intended to keep our country safe," Johnston said. "Jeanette Vizguerra is a mother of U.S. citizens. She works at Target. She's the founder of a local nonprofit." Echoing the voices of many other critics of Mr. Trump's immigration policy and deportation practices, Johnston said the administration's arrest of Vizguerra flies in the face of its stated goal of prioritizing violent criminals. "This is the great lie of the Trump Administration. This is not about safety. This is about political theater and political retribution," he continued. "This doesn't make this country safer. It makes this country lawless, which is the most unsafe thing any president can do." Bennet, one of Colorado's two Democratic senators who recently announced a run for governor, also called for Vizguerra's release. "Jeanette Vizguerra is a mother and pillar in her community. I am deeply concerned about ICE's actions to detain her without any due process, like a deportation order," he tweeted last month. "ICE should ensure Jeanette has legal counsel and immediately release her." The day after Vizguerra was arrested, a number of protesters gathered outside the Aurora ICE Processing Center, holding signs that read "FREE JEANETTE." A small group protested after activist Jeanette Vizguerra was reportedly detained by ICE and taken to the GEO Aurora ICE Processing Center in Aurora on March 18, 2025. RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images "In a way, I would say I feel very angered and sad but very prepared as well," Vizguerra's daughter Luna Baez told CBS Colorado. "I'm just considering how long her case has been active for. (It's) something we've had to plan for... for years." Last week, Vizguerra's legal team filed an amended legal claim challenging ICE's detention of her and alleging due process violations. "This isn't just a technical problem -- it's a constitutional one," her lead attorney Laura Lichter said when she filed that claim. "Jeanette was arrested without legal basis, the government repeatedly violated its own rules, and leadership openly celebrated her detention as political retribution. That's not law enforcement. That's retaliation." Jeanette Vizguerra, immigrant rights activist, poses for a portrait at First Unitarian Society of Denver in Denver, Colorado on Jan. 26, 2021. Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images Despite the claims of ICE and other Trump administration officials, Vizguerra's attorney and other supporters in the community maintain she's being targeted for her speech, not her immigration status. "Targeting someone for their voice and views is the kind of conduct we expect from authoritarian regimes -- not a constitutional democracy," Lichter said. "For years, Jeanette has fought for the rights of others," said Lichter. "Now we're fighting to defend hers."
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colorado immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra wins Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award
DENVER (KDVR) — A Colorado immigration activist facing deportation after being detained by immigration officials in March is one of the latest recipients of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, an organization that aims to pursue the late senator and former attorney general's 'dream of a more just and peaceful world' through litigation, business and education efforts, every year awards 'champions of social justice who stand up to oppression, even at great personal risk, in the nonviolent pursuit of human rights.' City breaks ground on $2M renovation of La Raza Park For their 2025 class of award recipients, the organization recognized Colorado's Jeanette Vizguerra, along with Maine Gov. Janet Mills and former U.S. Department of Justice Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer. 'As the daughter of our former attorney general, I know firsthand the necessity of protecting and preserving our democracy,' said Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. 'From taking a stand against unlawful executive orders and bolstering the moral strength of the Department of Justice to advocating for vulnerable immigrants, these women have chosen to stand up for their beliefs during a time when it is increasingly difficult to do so. I'm honored to recognize Governor Mills, Elizabeth Oyer, and Jeanette Vizguerra, and I hope that this award is a beacon of hope for others like them.' ICE took Vizguerra into custody on March 17 and said that she illegally entered the U.S. and has a final order of deportation. Vizguerra's legal team has since petitioned under the argument that there was no valid removal order to detain Vizguerra. Vizguerra came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1997 with her husband and eldest daughter and has fought her deportation and for immigrant rights since 2009. She took refuge in a Denver church in 2017 during President Donald Trump's first term, and her legal team has said her targeting and detainment in March were politically motivated. She was also recognized in 2017 as one of Time Magazine's most influential people for her efforts. This Denver metro suburb is among the fastest growing American cities: US Census 'Recently, while detained in a detention center, I received the news that I had received this human rights award. I thank RFK Human Rights for this honor,' Vizguerra said in a press release. She said she has used her own resources in her fight for immigration rights and hopes to continue doing so. 'The government wants to silence my voice, but I will continue to sow rebellion until I reap freedom,' Vizguerra said. 'This award is not only for me but for every person who has been involved in my life—especially my children and my immigrant community. I hope our voices are never silenced.' Mills, Oyer, and Vizguerra will be recognized during a public ceremony on June 5 at the Kennedy Caucus Room in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
