English

Historic Bond Order for Jeanette Vizguerra Challenges ICE Detentions

AFTER 9 MONTHS IN DETENTION | Jeanette Vizguerra upon entering her confinement in an Adventist church in early 2016. (Photo / El Comercio de Colorado Archive)

SHE SPENT CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR EVE WITH HER FAMILY AFTER 9 MONTHS IN DETENTION

El Comercio de Colorado Newsroom

This story was originally published in LatidoBeat, a coalition of local Spanish-language media in the U.S.

Haga click aquí para leer la versión en español

A ruling by a federal judge in Denver has ordered that Mexican activist Jeanette Vizguerra be granted a bond hearing after nine months in ICE custody in Aurora. The decision challenges immigration policies that block bond, reinforces constitutional due process, and sets a key precedent for other migrants under prolonged detention in the United States.

Jeanette Vizguerra learned the good news in one of the most unexpected places. She was in the yard of the ICE immigration detention center in Aurora, Colorado. Surrounded by other detained women, she was organizing a vigil when, upon returning to her housing unit, an officer asked her to immediately call her attorney. “She told me, ‘there’s good news.’ When I hung up, I knew something had changed,” Vizguerra said in an exclusive interview.

“On the very day I completed nine months in here, the judge ordered that I be given a bond hearing. I felt like a light turned on.” The Mexican activist, one of the most emblematic figures of the pro-immigrant movement in the United States, received a historic order from federal judge Nina Y. Wang of the U.S. District Court in Denver. Wang determined that Vizguerra’s prolonged immigration detention cannot continue without a bond hearing.

Nine months “stolen” from her family

Vizguerra, 53, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 17, 2025, outside her workplace, just 60 days into the start of the second Trump administration. Since then, she has remained confined at the ICE detention center operated by the GEO company in Aurora. “These are nine months the system has stolen from my life—time away from my children, my grandchildren, and my community.”

This is not the first time she has faced detention, but it is the longest. “This has been the hardest one,” she admitted. “Hearing the stories of other detained people, seeing families torn apart, children left in limbo—it hurts and deeply frustrates.” In a 38-page ruling, Judge Wang concluded that Vizguerra’s detention has been unreasonably prolonged and violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

A federal ruling that changes the course of the case

As a result, Wang ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to grant Vizguerra a bond hearing within a maximum of seven days. The hearing was scheduled for Friday, December 19, a date that could mark a turning point not only for Vizguerra but also for other migrants detained without access to bond. “What’s important now,” Vizguerra explained, “is that it’s no longer me who has to prove that I’m a good person.”

Vizguerra explained that under the judge’s order, it is the government that must prove she poses a risk to the community or a flight risk. “I have good ‘moral character.’ For 16 years, I have complied with all my court appearances and immigration requirements. I have never gone into hiding. I have always shown up. And saying that I want to flee makes no sense because my life is here,” she said.

Bonds for detained migrants

Vizguerra’s case takes on special relevance in the current legal context. In recent months, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the highest body in the immigration court system, ruled that certain migrants—especially those who entered the country without authorization—do not have the right to bond hearings before immigration judges. ICE has used that interpretation to justify prolonged detentions without judicial review.

Wang is a federal judge in the Denver district court who does not depend on the administrative immigration circuit or the instructions it receives. The ruling reaffirms that federal courts retain the authority to intervene when detention becomes excessive, arbitrary, or punitive. “The judge understood that it was already time. Nine months is unnecessary incarceration,” said Vizguerra, who won the 2025 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.

Leadership, sanctuary, and retaliation

Vizguerra is a nationally recognized figure. She arrived in the United States in 1997 from Mexico City and became a symbol of the sanctuary movement during the first Trump administration, when she spent years taking refuge in Denver churches to avoid deportation. Her case inspired a national movement of people seeking protection in religious sanctuaries.

In 2017, Time magazine included her among the 100 most influential people in the world. Judge Wang also acknowledged that there are indications her detention may have been retaliation for her public activism. While she did not resolve that issue definitively, she noted that it could constitute a possible violation of the First Amendment. “The law exists,” Vizguerra said. “And today a judge is proving that to me.”

“Freedom feels close, but it’s bittersweet”

Although the possibility of release on bond is real, Vizguerra admits her emotions are mixed. “Freedom feels close, but it’s bittersweet,” she said. One of her daughters will not be present when she returns home: she enlisted in the Army during Vizguerra’s detention. Still, she knows exactly what she will do first if she regains her freedom. “Hug my children,” she answered without hesitation. “That’s what I’ve missed most during these nine months.”

After that, she says, she will return to the streets. “My community needs me. I have never stopped fighting, and I’m not going to start now.” Before saying goodbye, she sent a message to those who remain detained. “Don’t give up. Fight your cases. The road is long and painful, but when one is persistent, justice can arrive. I will never give up.” Vizguerra’s case remains open, but her bond hearing is an important precedent in the defense of due process for detained migrants in the United States.