Protests continued Wednesday around the Denver metro area to demand the release of immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra. Vizguerra, whose story has brought her national recognition, was arrested by ICE agents on Monday.
She is currently being held at a facility in Aurora. Protesters held a rally Tuesday morning outside the facility demanding her release. On Wednesday, protesters gathered at the Auraria Campus鈥檚 Tivoli Quad to continue the call.
Vizguerra first made headlines in 2017 during the first Trump administration when she sought sanctuary at the First Unitarian Church in Denver. She stayed there until 2020. Her story landed her on a list of .
Vizguerra has lived in the U.S. for close to 30 years with her children, but entered the country without immigration documents. She was pulled over by police in 2009 and found with false identification. In recent years, she has repeatedly searched for a way to obtain a visa. Her fight has elevated her voice as a call for change to the country鈥檚 immigration policies.
鈥淪he has been an incredible voice for what's right, for what's justice, and for intersectional issues,鈥� said Jordan Garcia, the program director of the immigration justice nonprofit American Friends Service Committee (AFSC).鈥� She started out, at least as far as I know her, as a union organizer with the service employees, international union organizing janitors. And she just was a force to be reckoned with.鈥�
According to her family members and local activists, Vizguerra was followed around her work and she was apprehended during a work break at Target.
Since Monday, Vizguerra has only been able to speak with her lawyer and family through a tablet provided at the detention center. She was also able to use it to speak with demonstrators during a rally on Tuesday.
鈥�(She) shared how grateful she was that people were showing up for her. Jeanette shared how much she really believes that detention centers like that shouldn't exist, that the way that she's getting treated is with some dignity and with some, you know, preferential treatment,鈥� said Garcia. 鈥淏ut she thinks that that's not fair, and that everyone should be able to be free, and if not free, to be able to be treated with dignity while they're inside, regardless of how public their case is.鈥�
The committee has protestors watching the detention center to see if Vizguerra is going to be put on a bus to the airport to be deported. She said on Tuesday that she was told to be ready to get on a bus, but that didn't end up happening.
Wednesday's protest
There were hundreds of people gathered at Auraria Campus Wednesday afternoon rallying in support of Vizquerra and other immigration activists like Palestinian Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student arrested over past protests. Demonstrators called for an end to the Trump administration's hard stance on immigration and the release of Vizguerra and others.
A few people spoke at the rally, including student organizer Khalid Hamu.
"I am participating here today because I want to build support. I want to inform people. I want to, you know, everybody who even heard, like a slight murmur of Jeanette's name, I want them all to experience the various organizers and what they have to say today, and to get the story straight and get and let the community know this was happening," Hamu said.
Wynn Howell also attended the protest. They know Vizguerra personally from working together in a labor union in Denver.
"It's just insane to see the administration grab a grandmother from her break at Target and especially one who's really a pillar of our community and a respected community leader," Howell told KUNC.
Demonstrators marched to the Golda Meir Education center on campus and lead chants of "Free Jeanette Now."
Colorado lawmakers respond
Colorado leaders are also making their voices heard. This includes Denver's Mayor Mike Johnston who said in part, "Her detainment is not about safety. This is Putin-style persecution of political dissidents."
Jeanette Vizguerra is a mom of American citizens, a Target employee, a nonprofit leader and an immigration reform advocate with no violent criminal history.
— Mayor Mike Johnston (@denversmayor)
Her detainment is not about safety. This is Putin-style persecution of political dissidents.
State lawmakers, like the legislature's Latino Caucus, demanded Vizguerra's immediate release during a press conference Tuesday at the State Capitol.
"Just in the past days, we have seen via court filings the Trump administration's Department of Justice say, I guess the rules don't apply to us," said Denver Democrat and chair of the Latino Caucus, Senator Julie Gonzales. "There is work to do to protect the civil rights of Coloradans here now, particularly given the fact that Donald Trump continues to allow ICE officers to act with abandon and to flout the rule of law."
Gonzales, speaking in Spanish, urged Colorado immigrants to understand their rights during interactions with immigration authorities.
She and other members of the caucus have been working on legislation for months intended to protect immigrants. The proposal is not yet public, but the sponsors told KUNC it will likely focus on further limiting local cooperation with federal immigration authorities, particularly around sharing individuals' personal data.
Gonzales said the measure will likely be officially introduced in the state Senate in the coming days.
