A federal judge in Denver is set to determine whether immigration and labor activist Jeanette Vizguerra, known for taking refuge in Colorado churches for years to avoid deportation, should be released from detention.
Vizguerra was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on March 17 as part of the Trump administration's ongoing immigration crackdown and is currently being held at an ICE detention facility in Aurora.
ICE recalled that Vizguerra entered the United States illegally from Mexico in 1997 and is subject to a final deportation order. "She has received legal due process in U.S. immigration court," ICE said in a statement reported by The Associated Press. However, her legal team contends that the order is not valid and has filed a petition asking U.S. District Judge Nina Wang to order her release.
Wang has issued a temporary injunction preventing her deportation while the case proceeds. Although it is not clear how soon she could rule, the judge has noted the case raises "complex issues" about immigration law and she could not find a similar case.
Federal prosecutors argue that ICE has the authority to deport Vizguerra but claim that the legal challenge is being brought before the wrong court. According to a report by The Denver Post, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado filed its response to Vizguerra's petition, asserting that the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has exclusive jurisdiction over such cases.
The government maintains that Vizguerra has previously acknowledged the existence of a valid removal order, citing her history of requesting and receiving stays of deportation, the report adds.
"At no time during all those years did she object to or challenge the reinstatement order," federal prosecutors wrote in their response. They also argue that Vizguerra's attorney at the time declined to respond to the reinstatement order issued in 2013.
Vizguerra's attorney, Laura Lichter, has rejected the government's claims, arguing that any removal order against her client is invalid due to procedural failures by ICE. "The government wants to litigate around the edges," Lichter said. "But the center cannot hold. There is no valid removal order. There never was."
Vizguerra's legal battle dates back to 2009, when she was pulled over in suburban Denver and found in possession of a fraudulent Social Security card. She was placed in removal proceedings, and although an immigration judge granted her voluntary departure in 2011, she later re-entered the U.S. following a trip to Mexico in 2012.
ICE reinstated her removal order in 2013, leading to her eventual decision to seek sanctuary in churches to avoid deportation during the Trump administration.
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