Undocumented mother seeks sanctuary in US church

DENVER: Jeanette Vizguerra fled to the US from Mexico with her family after her husband was kidnapped three times, once with a gun to his head.

Now, nearly 20 years later, she is seeking refuge again, this time in a church to avoid being deported as part of President Trump’s crackdown on immigrants living in the country illegally.

Vizguerra, 47, and her three young children, who are US citizens, are living in the basement of Denver’s First Unitarian Society Church, where she sought sanctuary late Tuesday, rightly suspecting that a stay of her deportation order would not be extended by a judge the following day.

It is uncommon for US authorities to enter places of worship, schools and hospitals to deport undocumented immigrants.

Vizguerra, who also has an older daughter, said she was prepared to stay in a makeshift bedroom at the church for as long as it takes — even four years under Trump’s presidency — so as not to be separated from her children.

“People on the outside think it’s hard, they say ‘ how could you sacrifice so much’,” she told AFP. “But then when I look at my children, they’re healthy, they’re happy.

“I’m able to be here safely and hug them and they’re here alongside me. I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I’m willing to sacrifice what is necessary in order to be with my children.”

She and her kids live in a small room crowded with their belongings and two beds. — AFP