DENVER (AP) - The Latest on a Mexican immigrant leaving a Denver church after being granted a deportation delay (all times local):
2:25 p.m.
A woman who lived in Denver churches for three months to avoid immigration authorities is one of 30 immigrants who are being allowed to stay in the United States for two years as they fight to get legal status.
Jeanette Vizguerra (vihz-GEHR’-uh) left the First Baptist Church near the state Capitol on Friday after winning the deportation delay following the intervention of U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.
Bennet filed bills to help her and another Colorado Mexican immigrant, Arturo Hernandez, remain in the United States under a process that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently announced would be scaled back.
ICE says 30 immigrants who had bills filed before May 5 will be grandfathered and given two-year deportation delays.
From now on, the relatively small number of immigrants who get bills filed on their behalf will only be eligible for stays up to six months with the possibility of one 90-day extension.
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11:50 a.m.
A Mexican immigrant who lived in a Denver church for three months to avoid immigration authorities is vowing to fight for another woman still in hiding.
Jeanette Vizguerra (vihz-GEHR’-uh) left the First Baptist Church near the state Capitol on Friday surrounded by her children and supporters after they say she won a two-year deportation delay.
Speaking to the crowd while holding her daughter’s hand, she said she is happy to be with her family for Mother’s Day but sad that Ingrid Encalada Latorre is still living in a Quaker meeting house in Denver because she’s facing removal from the United States.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado introduced a bill in March to help Vizguerra stay and says she should never have been targeted for removal.
Immigration officials haven’t issued any updates on her case.
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9:15 a.m.
A Mexican immigrant who lived in a Denver church for three months to avoid immigration authorities left Friday morning after supporters say she won a two-year deportation delay.
Jeanette Vizguerra (vihz-GEHR’-uh) was joined by her children and supporters as she walked outside.
She says she is happy that she will get to spend Mother’s Day with her children and grandchildren. But she says she is still sad because another woman is still living in another Denver church to avoid deportation. She vowed to help fight for her case now.
Activists say another man who once took refuge in a Denver church and was arrested by immigration agents last month, Arturo Hernandez, has also been granted a two-year deportation delay after first winning a 30-day delay.
Sen. Michael Bennet introduced bills to help both Vizguerra and Hernandez. He says they shouldn’t have been targeted for removal.
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7:40 a.m.
A Mexican immigrant who has been living in a Denver church to avoid deportation plans to leave Friday after supporters say officials granted her a two-year delay.
Jeanette Vizguerra (vihz-GEHR’-uh) moved into a church basement three months ago after skipping her scheduled check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
Her attorney, Hans Meyer says the mother of four has been trying to get a visa granted to crime victims which would allow her to stay in the country.
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