Undocumented Immigrant Hasn't Gone Out Of Sanctuary Church For Two Months
For two months, an undocumented immigrant hasn't gone out of the church she's hiding in for fear of being deported back to her hometown.
Jeanette Vizguerra, a mother of four, has been hiding inside the basement of Denver's First Unitarian Church, a so-called 'sanctuary church', since February, Fox31 reports.
Vizguerra, who hails from Mexico, avoided a scheduled meeting with immigration officials after they denied her request to stay in the U.S., the International Business Times reports, and subsequently hid herself in the Denver church.
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"Two months living in this church," Vizguerra told Fox31.
Vizguerra, who has stayed in the U.S. for 20 years, said living in a sanctuary for fear of deportation is tough. Although her family visits her three times a week, she says she feels alone without her kids.
As hard as it may be, though, she thinks it's a better option than being deported.
"I need to fight for and defend what I think is right and just. And the right thing to do is to be with my kids," she told Fox31.
And she isn't sure what the future holds.
"Right now, there isn't a next step," she said. "So I can only wait. Only wait."
"Enforcement priority"
Vizguerra, who in 2012 was caught illegally re-entering the U.S. after seeing her dying mother in Mexico, is an "enforcement priority" due to the fact that she has two misdemeanor convictions, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Shawn Neudauer told CBS4 in February.
"Jeanette Vizguerra-Ramirez, from Mexico, has two misdemeanor convictions. On Nov. 18, 2011, a federal immigration judge originally issued her final orders of deportation to Mexico," Neudauer said.
"Based on these factors, Vizguerra-Ramirez is an ICE enforcement priority. Ms. Vizguerra-Ramirez's request for another Stay of Removal was denied Feb. 15, 2017 by the ICE Denver Field Office," he added.
Vizguerra has four children, three of them born in the U.S. She was previously arrested for not having a driver's license or a current vehicle registration. She also used a fake identification document that contained a fake Social Security number.
