Illegal immigrant who was on TIME100 list in 2017 detained by ICE

TIME magazine reported one of its 2017 TIME100 listees, an illegal immigrant who crossed into the United States on Christmas Eve in 1997, has been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

“In 1997, Jeanette Vizguerra left Mexico City for Colorado, where she became a janitor and immigration reform advocate,” the Wednesday article in TIME read. “Twenty years later, she was one of the most influential people in the world.” 

On Monday, Vizguerra was reportedly arrested by ICE at a Target where she was employed in the Denver area. 

MEXICAN IMMIGRATION ACTIVIST WHO HID IN COLORADO CHURCH FOR YEARS TO AVOID DEPORTATION ARRESTED BY ICE

She was known to stay in churches to claim shelter from ICE enforcement, a policy from former President Biden’s administration that allowed illegal immigrants to stay in churches or schools to avoid arrest, which the Trump administration revoked on Jan. 21, 2025. 

In TIME’s report on Vizguerra’s arrest, it quoted the 2017 TIME100 list profile of Vizguerra that was written by actress America Ferrera. 

“Jeanette moved to the U.S. to be a janitor, working as an outspoken union organizer and building her own company before becoming an advocate for immigration reform—a bold and risky thing for an undocumented immigrant,” Ferrera’s tribute to Vizguerra read. 

“The current Administration has scapegoated immigrants, scaring Americans into believing that undocumented people like Jeanette are criminals. She came to this country not to rape, murder or sell drugs, but to create a better life for her family… This is not a crime. This is the American Dream,” the 2017 article continued, referring to President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

TRUMP VOWS TO REFUND, DEPORT ANY ‘UNSAVORY’ IMMIGRANTS WHO TRY FOR CITIZENSHIP UNDER POTENTIAL GOLD CARD 

In addition to crossing into the United States illegally, Vizguerra was reportedly stopped by police in 2009 and charged with driving without a license, insurance, or registration, but those charges were eventually dismissed. 

In 2012, Vizguerra “self-removed” to Mexico, before illegally reentering the United States and was arrested April 22, 2013, by the U.S. Border Patrol. 

In a post on X on Wednesday, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston called Vizguerra “a mom of American citizens, a Target employee, a nonprofit leader and an immigration reform advocate with no violent criminal history.” He then blasted the Trump administration, saying, “Her detainment is not about safety. This is Putin-style persecution of political dissidents.”

Fox News Digital reached out to ICE, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, Laura Lichter, who is reportedly representing Vizguerra, as well as Johnston, but did not immediately receive a response.