By Arjun Singh Sethi

Immigration authorities detained longtime immigrant rights activist, Jeanette Vizguerra, in Denver last week. Jeanette has lived in Colorado for more than twenty years and is at imminent risk of being torn away from her children, grandchildren, and beloved community. Jeanette made national headlines in 2017, when she took sanctuary at the First Unitarian Church in Denver for which Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Vizguerra had noticed that unmarked vehicles had been following her for several days, and upon detaining her yesterday, the agents remarked, "We finally got you."

I spent time with Jeanette in 2017 and compiled a testimonial in her own words for my book, American Hate: Survivors Speak Out. Jeanette discussed her mixed status family, life in sanctuary, fears of deportation, and the many ways she was fighting back. You can read that chapter below.

A federal judge ruled a few days ago that ICE cannot deport Jeanette absent a judicial hearing. If you'd like to support Jeanette and other undocumented persons in this moment, you can sign the petition to free Jeanette; contact your elected officials and urge them to ensure that the rights of undocumented people are protected; support your local immigrant rights organizations; ask your cities/towns/states to serve as sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants; and demand that those who help immigrants, including activists and lawyers, be allowed to do their work and not face persecution on account of it.