DENVER (CN) - A federal judge on Wednesday ordered U.S. immigration authorities to hold a "constitutionally adequate" bond hearing by Christmas Eve to determine whether a detained immigrant activist should be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
ICE detained 53-year-old Jeanette Vizguerra-Ramirez in March. Vizguerra-Ramirez is a noncitizen immigrant from Mexico who has called the U.S. home for nearly three decades. Shortly after her detention, she filed a federal petition for habeas corpus, arguing she was arrested for speaking out against the nation's immigration system.
"At Ms. Vizguerra-Ramirez's bond hearing, the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that she is either a flight risk or a danger to the community in order to justify continued detention," wrote U.S. District Judge Nina Wang in a 38-page order.
Vizguerra-Ramirez initially fled to the U.S. in 1997. As with many newcomers to the U.S., her case file details the complex challenges of obtaining stable immigration status in the U.S.
After living in the U.S. for more than a decade, Vizguerra-Ramirez first found herself in removal proceedings in 2009. In 2011, an immigration judge denied her application to cancel a removal order, then granted her request to voluntarily depart, which she did after filing an appeal.
Entering Mexico, however, automatically withdrew Vizguerra-Ramirez's appeal, leaving the issue unresolved to this day.
Vizguerra-Ramirez returned to the U.S. in April 2013, after which she was detained and convicted of illegally reentering the country. In July 2013, an immigration judge revived the 2011 deportation order, without informing her of her right to challenge it.
"Ms. Vizguerra-Ramirez argues, in essence, that respondents finalized their determination before informing her of her right to contest the determination and failed to consider her statement in opposition," Wang summarized in her opinion.
Biding for time to make her argument in court, Vizguerra-Ramirez filed several successful stays of removal through 2017. During Donald Trump's first presidency, she took refuge inside a Denver church for three years to avoid deportation and was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2017. From December 2021 through February 2024, Vizguerra-Ramirez continued to obtain stays of removal.
The U.S. currently intends to deport Vizguerra-Ramirez under the 2013 reinstatement of the 2011 deportation order. Vizguerra-Ramirez, however, argues she was never given the opportunity to appeal either the denial of her request to cancel the 2011 deportation order or the 2013 order to reinstate the 2011 deportation order.
After finding Vizguerra-Ramirez faces a "reasonable possibility that she would be persecuted in Mexico on the basis of a protected ground," an immigration judge in 2025 also initiated proceedings to determine if she can be deported to Mexico.
In response to Vizguerra-Ramirez's petition for federal court intervention, U.S. attorneys argued the case belongs in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, not the U.S. District of Colorado. Wang agreed, finding "a ruling in Ms. Vizguerra-Ramirez's favor as to her detention would also implicate the legality of her removal."
Vizguerra-Ramirez initially filed a simultaneous petition to the 10th Circuit, which she withdrew in April. She filed a second petition to the 10th Circuit in September, which remains pending and has been sealed by the court.
While Wang found herself unable to consider whether Vizguerra-Ramirez's removal from the U.S. is lawful, she can assess whether the immigrant's current detention is warranted, particularly in light of her First Amendment claims.
"Ms. Vizguerra-Ramirez's substantial First Amendment allegations, taken to their logical conclusion, suggest that ICE did not act as an impartial decisionmaker in determining that she was subject to continued detention under 1231(a)(6) and may have been motivated by a punitive purpose," Wang wrote. "That presents far more serious due process concerns than a garden variety prolonged detention claim, and the court concludes that the unique facts of this case amount to exceptional circumstances."
The Joe Biden-appointed judge, however, stopped short of finding the U.S. had violated Vizguerra-Ramirez's rights and instead suggested further discovery might provide the facts needed to flesh out the argument one way or another.
Vizguerra-Ramirez's attorneys include Laura Patricia Lunn of the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network and Elizabeth Jordan at the Denver Law School Student Law Office.
A representative for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on the development.
Source: Courthouse News Service
