Federal prosecutors defended U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ability to deport Jeanette Vizguerra in a new legal filing this week, but argued the petition challenging her detention is being argued in the wrong court.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado filed its response to the immigration advocate’s petition for habeas corpus in U.S. District Court in Denver on Monday evening; a hearing on the case is set for Friday.
Vizguerra, 53, was detained by ICE agents on March 17 at her workplace, a Target store in metro Denver. The next day, her legal team filed an emergency petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which is a request for a court to determine the validity of a person’s detention.
Vizguerra is currently being held at the agency’s detention facility in Aurora, which is run by private contractor GEO Group.
The government’s response, obtained by The Denver Post on Tuesday, argues the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has exclusive jurisdiction over these types of cases. Vizguerra’s lawyers have also filed a petition for review in the 10th Circuit.
President Donald Trump’s administration is asking U.S. District Judge Nina Wang, who ordered ICE not to deport Vizguerra or move her out of state while the court considers legal arguments, to deny Vizguerra’s challenge to a removal order that was reinstated 2013.
The U.S. attorneys’ response says that, in the years since the removal order was issued, Vizguerra and ICE “have acted on the understanding that an order of removal exists” because she has sought and received stays of removal.
“At no time during all those years did she object to or challenge the reinstatement order,” the government attorneys wrote.
Federal prosecutors also contest that Vizguerra’s then-attorney declined to respond to the 2013 reinstatement order.
Laura Lichter, Vizguerra’s lead attorney, counters that any removal order is invalid because ICE didn’t follow procedural standards, including informing Vizguerra about her right to challenge it.
“The government wants to litigate around the edges,” Lichter said in a Tuesday statement. “But the center cannot hold. There is no valid removal order. There never was.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado declined to comment on ongoing cases. The office is representing the respondents to Vizguerra’s petition, including Aurora ICE processing center warden Dawn Ceja, ICE field office director Robert Guadian, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
Vizguerra became a nationally-recognized figure after sheltering in two Denver churches to avoid deportation during Trump’s first term.
“This is why we are fighting this case: Jeanette is being detained without lawful basis and denied her right to due process under the law,” Lichter said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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