Time magazine reported one of its 2017 Time100 Listees, an illegal immigrant who crossed the United States on Christmas Eve 1997 and has been arrested by immigration and customs law enforcement.
“In 1997, Jeanette Vizguerra left Mexico City for Colorado, where she became a gatekeeper and an advocate for immigration reform,” wrote promptly on Wednesday. “Twenty years later, she is one of the most influential people in the world.”
Vizguerra reportedly was arrested by ICE on Monday for her target of hiring in the Denver area.
Mexican immigration activist hiding in Colorado church for years to avoid deportation by ice arrest
Jeanette Vizguerra illegally took over the First Baptist Church in Denver in the United States and held her son San Diego on May 12, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. Vizguerra was arrested and detained by immigration authorities this week. (Getty Image)
She is known to stay in church and demand to avoid Bingbing’s law enforcement, a policy of former President Biden administration that allows illegal immigrants to stay in churches or schools to avoid arrest, and the Trump administration revoked the arrest on January 21, 2025.
In the Times report on Vizguerra’s arrest, it cites the 2017 Time100 Vizguerra list written by actress American actress.
“Jeanette moved to the United States to be a gatekeeper, an outspoken union organizer and built his own company before becoming an advocate for immigration reform, a bold and risky thing for undocumented immigration.”
“The current administration has scapegoat immigrants, which makes Americans think that undocumented people like Janet are criminals. She comes to this country not to rape, murder or sell drugs, but to create a better life for her family…it’s not a crime…it’s an American dream.” The 2017 article continues, referring to President Donald Trump’s first semester in office.
Trump vows to refund, expel any “unpleasant” immigrants who try to citizenship under potential gold medals
Immigrants deported from the United States are on the El Chaparral Pedestrian Border Bridge in Tijuana, Mexico late Tuesday, January 21, 2025. (Felix Marquez/AP)
Vizguerra was reportedly stopped by police in 2009 and was charged with not having a driver’s license, insurance or registration, except for illegally crossing the United States, but the charges were eventually dismissed.
In 2012, Vizguerra conducted a “self-censorship” of Mexico, then illegally re-entered the United States, and was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol on April 22, 2013.
In a post on X, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston called Vizguerra “a mom of American citizens, targeted employee, nonprofit leader and immigration reform advocate with no history of violent crime.” He then blew up the Trump administration, saying: “Her detention has nothing to do with security. It’s Putin’s style of persecuting political dissidents.”
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Fox News Digital contacted the ICE with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Laura Lichter, Colorado, and reportedly represented Vizguerra and Johnston, but received no immediate response.
