Jeannette Vizguerra: Undocumented mother of four and Time honoree latest high-profile figure of Trump’s immigration crackdown

CNN
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An undocumented mother of four who works at Target and was honored by Time Magazine has become the latest symbol of the fear and turmoil spreading under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Jeanette Vizguerra, 53, became a symbol of resistance during the first Trump administration when she sought sanctuary in the basement of a Colorado church to avoid deportation, and stayed there for three years.

Her story and her activism were recognized by Time Magazine in 2017, which put her on its list of the World’s 100 Most Influential people, alongside John Lewis, Colin Kaepernick, Jeff Bezos, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

On Monday, as she took a break from her shift at the Denver-area Target store where she worked, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took her into custody, her daughter Luna Baez told CNN.

“From there she was put in a truck,” Baez said. “The whole time she told me they were laughing at her.”

She is now being held at a detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, her attorney Laura Lichter told CNN.

Her arrest was greeted with glee by those supporting Trump’s harsh crackdown.

“Finally!” John Fabbricatore, a former ICE field director, wrote a post on X.

“The Biden administration kept me from deporting Jeanette Vizguerra 4 years ago… She is a criminal, hates Trump and is an open-borders, abolish-ICE advocate. Bye!!!!”

CNN reached out to Fabbricatore for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Vizguerra came to the United States from Mexico in 1997 with her husband – who was kidnapped three times while working as a bus driver there – and eldest daughter. She has been living in the US undocumented since and has three American-born children.

In 2009, she pleaded guilty to “attempted possession of a forged instrument” after using a made-up Social Security number on a job application.

Although the case was dismissed, it heightened her visibility with immigration authorities. In 2017, fearing deportation under Trump, Vizguerra sought sanctuary in a Denver church, where she lived for three years.

She has been trying to obtain a visa given to crime victims that allows them to remain in the United States since she left the sanctuary of the church in 2020, according to Jordan Garcia of the American Friends Service Committee, who has been in contact with Vizguerra’s lawyer and family.

Vizguerra’s arrest adds to a growing list of high-profile immigrants detained in Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Late last week, a Brown University professor and physician with a valid visa was deported after Homeland Security officials alleged she admitted attending the funeral of a Hezbollah leader during a trip to Lebanon.

Earlier this month, a legal permanent resident who had led campus protests at Columbia University against Israel’s actions in Gaza was detained by immigration agents.

Vizguerra’s detention stands out for the targeting of a prominent voice in immigrant-rights advocacy.

In the days leading up to her detention, Vizguerra expressed concerns about being followed by unmarked vehicles as she left work and during her breaks, her daughter Luna Baez, told CNN.

Vizguerra’s arrest has drawn sharp criticism from local leaders.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis called on ICE to focus on violent offenders and said that Vizguerra “deserves due process.”

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston denounced the arrest, describing it as “Soviet-style political persecution.”

“This is not immigration enforcement. This is a mother of American citizens, a Target employee and a nonprofit founder,” Johnston said in a Facebook video. “This does not make our community safer. It makes it lawless.”

“Jeanette is a pillar of the community and has supported countless families. ICE had no reason to detain her — this cruel and unnecessary action is causing irreparable harm to her family and community,” the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition said in a statement.

Petitions challenging her detention have been filed in both Denver’s federal court and the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

By evening on the day after Vizguerra’s arrest a crowd of supporters had gathered outside the Aurora detention facility where they believed she was being held.

Among them was Baez, who grew emotional as she addressed the crowd.

“Not only is she a community member, but she’s a mother to four kids. Four kids that still depend on her … And I just wanted to say that I need my mom back. I need her to come home,” Baez said.

At one point, Baez held up her phone and revealed that her mother was on speakerphone from inside the detention facility. Translating her mother’s words, Baez said, “She also wanted to say that under this arrest – it was extremely unlawful. None of the proceedings were followed … A warrant was never shown.”

Baez also took the opportunity to push back against Fabriccatore’s statement on X, arguing “he made it well known to her that he is actually very happy that she’s in there. And he laughs about it,” Baez said, with her mother still on the line.

“And in comparison to him, she is not a coward… She’s resilient. She doesn’t give in to the pressure of this administration, of these people,” she added, translating her mother’s remarks.

As her supporters continue to demand her release, they describe her as a pillar of the community and a mother whose absence is deeply felt by her children and the many families she has helped over the years.

Despite the risks of speaking up, Vizguerra has remained vocal about the risks undocumented immigrants face daily.

In January, she told CNN affiliate KCNC: “Whatever place – I don’t care if it’s a hospital, I don’t care if it’s a school, I don’t care if it’s a church I don’t care if some people have 40, 50 years here … everybody is at risk.”