Jeanette Vizguerra, immigrant rights activist
In February 2017, Jeanette Vizguerra, a mother of four and a longtime leader in the immigrant and labor movements in Colorado, resisted the threat of deportation by entering sanctuary in the First Unitarian Society of Denver.
Jeanette's story was covered by major news outlets, including CNN and the Washington Post, and she was honored as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2017.
After spending 86 days in sanctuary, she was granted a two-year stay of deportation, just in time to celebrate Mother's Day with her family.
Jeanette Vizguerra leaves sanctuary after 86 days
On May 12, Jeanette Vizguerra left First Baptist Church in Denver morning with about two dozen supporters chanting in Spanish. Vizguerra and her children were wearing shirts that read “Keep Families Together.”
“They are the reason I continue to struggle,” she said of her children.
In the news
Feb. 23, 2017
Shelter from the storm: In the face of increasingly aggressive federal immigration policies, the Colorado sanctuary movement grows
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