Jeanette Vizguerra, a well-known immigration activist who spent years in sanctuary to avoid deportation, was arrested in Aurora, Colorado, on Monday.

Vizguerra, a mother and Target employee, has been fighting deportation for years despite having a final removal order dating back to the Obama administration. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stated that she had multiple stays preventing her deportation but was ultimately taken into custody.

Some Democrats have argued that Vizguerra has not received due process, despite the longstanding order against her.

Mayor Johnston Condemns Arrest

At a press conference on Tuesday, Johnston strongly criticized the arrest.

“This is not immigration enforcement. This is Soviet-style political persecution of political dissidents under the guise of immigration enforcement,” he said. “This is not someone with a criminal record. This is the mom of American citizens who works at Target.”

He continued, “This is not something that makes our community safer in my mind. I think it makes our community lawless.”

Johnston was among four mayors of sanctuary cities who were recently questioned by Congress about their cities’ immigration policies in a heated hearing.

Jeanette Vizguerra is a mom of American citizens, a Target employee, a nonprofit leader and an immigration reform advocate with no violent criminal history.

Her detainment is not about safety. This is Putin-style persecution of political dissidents. pic.twitter.com/K0L1saxPOf

— Mayor Mike Johnston (@denversmayor) March 18, 2025

Retired ICE Official Reacts

John Fabbricatore, a retired ICE field office director, responded to the arrest on social media, stating that he had been blocked from deporting Vizguerra under the Biden administration.

“The Biden administration kept me from deporting Jeanette Vizguerra 4 years ago,” he wrote on X. “She should have been deported in 2009 as well. She hid in a church the first time Trump was President. She is a criminal, hates Trump, and is an open-borders, abolish-ICE advocate. Bye!!!!”

She entered the country not once but TWICE illegally.

She has seen an Immigration Judge that ordered her deported and her appeal was denied. Yet she still gave the middle finger to the US.

She committed fraud (convicted) plead down from 30 counts.

Drove without a license… pic.twitter.com/VpPRk9k7Cm

— John Fabbricatore (@JohnE_Fabb) March 19, 2025

History of Immigration Cases

Vizguerra has a long history with immigration authorities. In 2009, she was the subject of an ICE detainer in Denver. That same year, she was convicted of second-degree forged instrument possession and sentenced to 23 days in jail.

In March 2009, after being released by ICE, she was convicted of failure to display proof of insurance, driving without a license, and ordered to pay fines.

In 2011, a federal immigration judge denied her application for relief from immigration proceedings but granted her voluntary departure. She failed to leave within the required 60-day window and instead filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Sanctuary Movement

In September 2012, Vizguerra voluntarily returned to Mexico but was arrested in 2013 by ICE in El Paso, Texas, and ordered deported. She was later released because she did not meet ICE’s removal priorities at the time.

In 2019, she skipped an immigration appointment and sought sanctuary at the First Unitarian Society Church in Denver. She later moved to the First Baptist Church nearby, where she became a leader in the sanctuary movement.

Activism and Political Views

Images posted on Vizguerra’s Facebook account show her involvement in protests against ICE and calls to abolish the agency. One image posted on October 14, 2019, depicts a Native American scalping President Donald Trump, who is shown on his knees with two arrows in his torso.