Immigrant Living In A Church To Avoid Deportation Makes Time's 100 Most Influential List
- 7 years ago
An undocumented immigrant who has taken refuge in a Denver church to avoid deportation has been included on Time's annual list of 100 most influential people.
An undocumented immigrant who has taken refuge in a Denver church to avoid deportation has been included on Time’s annual list of 100 most influential people.
In a profile of Jeanette Vizguerra included in the magazine, actress America Ferrera writes that “the Vizguerra family lived in terror of being ripped apart by deportation.”
It goes on to say that, over time, the mother worked as a janitor, entrepreneur, and immigration advocate, but “after fighting off deportation for eight years, she decided to go public with her story and sought refuge in the basement of a Denver church.”
According to the New York Times, which released a story about her in February, “Ms. Vizguerra came to the United States from Mexico in 1997…In 2009, she was caught with fake identification…She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, setting off a chain of events that led to the deportation order.”
Sensing a looming threat of deportation under President Trump, she decided to take up residence with three of her children at the First Unitarian Society Church, which, as a “sensitive location” has stronger restrictions on unauthorized entry by immigration authorities.
The Denver Post reports that after Vizguerra was told about her Time magazine honor, she said to reporters, in Spanish, “I have so many emotions going through me. This has been a 20-year journey...This what people who are in my situation, so many people in my situation, have to go through.”
CNN reports that she has lived in the church for 65 days thus far.
An undocumented immigrant who has taken refuge in a Denver church to avoid deportation has been included on Time’s annual list of 100 most influential people.
In a profile of Jeanette Vizguerra included in the magazine, actress America Ferrera writes that “the Vizguerra family lived in terror of being ripped apart by deportation.”
It goes on to say that, over time, the mother worked as a janitor, entrepreneur, and immigration advocate, but “after fighting off deportation for eight years, she decided to go public with her story and sought refuge in the basement of a Denver church.”
According to the New York Times, which released a story about her in February, “Ms. Vizguerra came to the United States from Mexico in 1997…In 2009, she was caught with fake identification…She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, setting off a chain of events that led to the deportation order.”
Sensing a looming threat of deportation under President Trump, she decided to take up residence with three of her children at the First Unitarian Society Church, which, as a “sensitive location” has stronger restrictions on unauthorized entry by immigration authorities.
The Denver Post reports that after Vizguerra was told about her Time magazine honor, she said to reporters, in Spanish, “I have so many emotions going through me. This has been a 20-year journey...This what people who are in my situation, so many people in my situation, have to go through.”
CNN reports that she has lived in the church for 65 days thus far.