WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.400 --> 00:00:05.200 One summer afternoon in twenty seventeen, Maddy was driving down 2 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:08.840 the main highway into her small town. And that's all 3 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:11.280 we're going to tell you about where she lives, because 4 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:12.719 we're trying to protect her. 5 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:16.200 I was looking at the mountains, the landscape. 6 00:00:16.680 --> 00:00:19.919 Even after living in this small town for thirty years, 7 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:22.320 she still admired the views. 8 00:00:22.360 --> 00:00:26.200 Just that sense of physical freedom, being able to see 9 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:27.200 all this beauty. 10 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:30.400 She'd made the drive hundreds of times to attend her 11 00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:34.360 local church or to sell her well known homemade damalis, 12 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.839 but this time the drive felt different. 13 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:43.519 I was afraid. I was really really afraid. What if 14 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:47.920 they were following me? I got just into thispanic mode. 15 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:50.440 What if they're are seeing what am I doing? Seeing 16 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:51.559 what am I packing up? 17 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:56.000 Maddy had her clothes packed in suitcases and boxes inside 18 00:00:56.040 --> 00:00:59.480 the car because she was on her way to move 19 00:00:59.760 --> 00:01:04.280 in to a church to live on the church grounds 20 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:08.560 in order to avoid an imminent order of deportation. Mighty 21 00:01:08.720 --> 00:01:11.840 was one of almost fifty people, mostly women, who took 22 00:01:11.959 --> 00:01:16.160 refuge inside churches across the United States during the first 23 00:01:16.440 --> 00:01:17.440 Trump administration. 24 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:21.720 Houses of worship are stepping up to offer sanctuary to 25 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:26.160 undocumented immigrants. The force behind this effort is the fear 26 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:29.440 of deportation in light of President Trump's executive orders. 27 00:01:29.800 --> 00:01:33.000 They were part of what's known as the second wave 28 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:37.120 of the sanctuary movement, which was revived in twenty fourteen. 29 00:01:37.800 --> 00:01:40.680 It's a movement that started in the nineteen eighties when 30 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:44.840 places of worship provided shelter for Central American migrants fleeing 31 00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:48.160 civil wars, and all of this was inspired by the 32 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:49.440 underground Railroad. 33 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:53.840 It is the concept of religious sanctuary churches giving refuge 34 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:58.280 to undocumented Salvadorans and Guahamalans, two hundred and seventy churches 35 00:01:58.320 --> 00:02:01.360 in thirty three states using an underground network. 36 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:05.120 Now, the church couldn't offer mighty absolute safety from deportation 37 00:02:05.240 --> 00:02:09.400 in twenty seventeen, but back then there was internal guidance 38 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:13.720 from the Obama administration that essentially told ICE agents, Hey, 39 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:17.640 you should not be going inside schools or hospitals or 40 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:23.640 places of worship. The directive called these places sensitive locations 41 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.920 and that they should be avoided unless absolutely necessary in 42 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:32.920 a matter of national security. Knowing this, Madi and others 43 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:36.079 across the country made the choice to seek refuge by 44 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:38.720 living inside the church grounds. 45 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:42.040 I was spraying about the right decision. 46 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.480 The minute she arrived at the church in twenty seventeen. 47 00:02:49.160 --> 00:02:51.840 I just had the tension every day from people in 48 00:02:51.880 --> 00:02:55.440 the community. Different news stations all over the country were 49 00:02:55.480 --> 00:02:57.000 coming every day. 50 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:02.000 And almost every night, someone from the country would volunteer 51 00:03:02.160 --> 00:03:05.960 to spend the night on a mattress, sleeping next to 52 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:06.440 the door. 53 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:11.120 I was always feeling safe during. 54 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:14.440 The Biden administration, like many others who had taken sanctuary, 55 00:03:14.760 --> 00:03:19.239 Madi eventually moved out of the church. Her legal status 56 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:22.880 hadn't really changed, but it seemed like she was no 57 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:27.680 longer a priority for deportation. But on day one of 58 00:03:27.720 --> 00:03:33.600 the second Trump administration, that sense of safety disappeared. The 59 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:37.040 new order from President Donald Trump reversus a policy that 60 00:03:37.160 --> 00:03:40.360 barred ICE agents for making arrests and what are considered 61 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.120 to be sensitive areas. 62 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:45.720 And that means immigration officials can now target undocumented immigrants 63 00:03:45.720 --> 00:03:46.360 in churches. 64 00:03:47.040 --> 00:03:49.480 Every time I have to step out, I just pray. 65 00:03:50.160 --> 00:03:53.720 I'm like telling myself to be watchful and alert. I'm 66 00:03:54.040 --> 00:03:58.760 constantly alert, but always afraid. I barely go anywhere. 67 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:03.440 And here is what made her fear even worse. The 68 00:04:03.480 --> 00:04:06.600 Trump administration has made it clear that it will seek 69 00:04:06.760 --> 00:04:13.000 outright revenge against anyone who has defied his authority. Maddy 70 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:17.279 knows this because she's seen how the government targeted another woman. 71 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:20.840 The most visible face of the sanctuary movement in the 72 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:22.360 entire country. 73 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:25.200 A Denver woman who's font de importation for decades, is 74 00:04:25.200 --> 00:04:28.600 then the custody of immigration and customs enforcements in Aurora. 75 00:04:28.760 --> 00:04:32.039 Jeanetteiscertta is an activist for immigration rights, and back in 76 00:04:32.080 --> 00:04:35.479 twenty seventeen, she was recognized as one of Time Magazine's 77 00:04:35.520 --> 00:04:37.240 one hundred most Influential People. 78 00:04:37.880 --> 00:04:41.240 I heard about Janet that same night at midnight. I 79 00:04:41.320 --> 00:04:43.560 was getting ready to go to sleep, and then I 80 00:04:43.640 --> 00:04:46.000 watched the news and I was like, oh my god, 81 00:04:46.080 --> 00:04:49.640 this is so scary. I mean, you start feeling like 82 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:52.960 they are watching you, like they are looking for you. 83 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:57.320 I couldn't even sleep that night. I was remaining locked 84 00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:58.760 in my place a whole week. 85 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.359 He lives in constant vigilance. In fact, you should know 86 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:07.960 Madi is not her real name, and the voice you're 87 00:05:07.960 --> 00:05:13.440 hearing is someone recreating Madi's recorded interview word for word. 88 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:17.640 Madi has a very real fear of being deported. 89 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:21.279 I feel trapped, like I've been cornered. 90 00:05:26.520 --> 00:05:30.320 From Futuro Media and PRX It's Latino USA. I'm Maria 91 00:05:30.400 --> 00:05:35.680 Jossaan on today's episode, an exclusive interview with Janette Visguerra, 92 00:05:36.200 --> 00:05:40.440 the activist once named one of Time one hundred's most 93 00:05:40.640 --> 00:05:45.239 influential people. We hear from her inside the immigration detention 94 00:05:45.400 --> 00:05:49.240 facility where she is being held. Plus, we're going to 95 00:05:49.320 --> 00:05:53.000 take a look at the sanctuary movement today. What happens 96 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:56.760 when undocumented people who once put themselves in the public 97 00:05:56.920 --> 00:06:01.880 eye in order to avoid deportation are fearing revenge from 98 00:06:01.960 --> 00:06:03.040 the Trump administration. 99 00:06:07.440 --> 00:06:09.200 I'd just like to pray for the people in our 100 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:15.080 community when are saying people in the darkness and no one. 101 00:06:13.080 --> 00:06:13.479 Has to play. 102 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:18.760 It's a Sunday afternoon in North Philly. Mass is wrapping 103 00:06:18.880 --> 00:06:24.039 up at Kensington Ministries and community members are passing around 104 00:06:24.080 --> 00:06:28.240 the mic. It's a small group, but it's a classic 105 00:06:28.360 --> 00:06:31.880 scene in one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city. 106 00:06:32.320 --> 00:06:37.680 The parishioners are black, Latinos and Latinas. Reverend Adan Marina 107 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:40.839 is sitting at the front of the room. He's listening 108 00:06:40.880 --> 00:06:42.760 to the members of his congregation. 109 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:44.640 That's prayer. 110 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:49.880 From world people who are free. 111 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:54.119 He's a staple in this community, the kind of guy 112 00:06:54.520 --> 00:06:57.160 who knows what's going on with everyone. 113 00:07:04.880 --> 00:07:09.680 I've got folks named demm. 114 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:13.320 His church is in the heart of Philadelphia, the city 115 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:17.080 that under the first Trump administration saw more people take 116 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:22.360 sanctuary in churches than any other major US city. But 117 00:07:22.440 --> 00:07:24.320 today things look different. 118 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:27.600 I'm worried about folks here that I know. You know, 119 00:07:27.640 --> 00:07:30.680 I have a young couple from Venezuela. I haven't seen 120 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:35.200 them since the deportations started under this administration. I have 121 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:38.480 one young lady who I think last week was the 122 00:07:38.520 --> 00:07:41.280 first time I'd seen her in three months. In her neighborhood, 123 00:07:41.760 --> 00:07:43.880 the raids were taking place, so she told me she 124 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:47.520 was in her apartment and hiding for three months, couldn't leave, 125 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:49.720 didn't want to leave because folks were getting arrested. 126 00:07:51.320 --> 00:07:55.360 This is something Reverend Avan has heard before. Back during 127 00:07:55.400 --> 00:07:59.000 the Obama administration, Reverend Avan got a call to open 128 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:01.960 the doors of his parents to a local Hunduran mother 129 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:04.800 who was at imminent risk of deportation. 130 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:08.800 I got the call, and I knew from the get go, right, 131 00:08:08.840 --> 00:08:11.360 this is where you have to practice what you preach. 132 00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:13.840 This is where your faith is acted upon. 133 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:17.920 He's also Hunduran and his parents fled the country seeking 134 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:19.720 safety from political persecution. 135 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:22.680 This is my story in a sense. So how could 136 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:24.000 I have said no? I would have said no, I'd 137 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:25.760 have felt like a hypocrite. I would have felt like 138 00:08:25.760 --> 00:08:26.200 a liar. 139 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:31.880 Reverend Adan has protested immigration policies of every single administration 140 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:35.800 over the last two decades, and he sees Trump's policies 141 00:08:36.160 --> 00:08:40.240 as a new chapter in an old story. But this 142 00:08:40.400 --> 00:08:44.040 time it is different. Now, he says, getting that call 143 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.240 could be much more complicated. 144 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:50.200 It's more dangerous now. You can be targeted, you can 145 00:08:50.280 --> 00:08:52.559 have crosshairs on your chest or your building. 146 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:56.520 Still, he says, being a person of faith means caring 147 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:59.800 for others, even when he compose a risk. 148 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:01.920 If folks come knock on the door, what are we 149 00:09:01.920 --> 00:09:03.440 going to say, now, No, I can't because of our 150 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:07.400 nonprofit status. Oh no, I can't because they're breaking the law. 151 00:09:08.160 --> 00:09:10.080 Like if you're going to be in a church and 152 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:14.200 you're going to practice love and you're not willing to 153 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:17.800 provide sanctuary, then we're missing the mark. 154 00:09:19.160 --> 00:09:23.360 The sanctuary movement of the past often received criticism around 155 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:29.360 the complicated racial dynamics of white, wealthy congregations who while 156 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:34.200 well meaning, would fall into patterns of paternalism as they 157 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:39.199 attempted to publicly support undocumented immigrants living in their churches. 158 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:44.600 But riverd Avan says that this new reality is less 159 00:09:44.640 --> 00:09:48.600 about being a public ally and more about being a 160 00:09:48.760 --> 00:09:50.240 quiet accomplice. 161 00:09:50.920 --> 00:09:53.600 I mean, this is really where folks who are talking 162 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:56.880 to talk and have the resources. This is where the 163 00:09:56.920 --> 00:09:59.959 rubber hits the road as a pastor, as a Christian 164 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:03.480 and it's well, which law do we adhere? More human 165 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:07.520 law divine law? If there's a system that is unjust, 166 00:10:08.400 --> 00:10:09.839 we're held accountable. 167 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:10.080 To a higher law. 168 00:10:18.160 --> 00:10:22.240 Reverend Adan says he's heard some cases of citizens quietly 169 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:27.599 opening their doors to undocumented immigrants seeking safety and sanctuary. 170 00:10:27.640 --> 00:10:31.480 Leaders across the country say that now what they're doing 171 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:37.720 is building sanctuary in the streets, challenging ICE through direct action. 172 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:41.520 Activists are showing up to ICE rates to try to 173 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:46.640 physically stop people from being detained. Sometimes groups bring megaphones 174 00:10:46.880 --> 00:10:49.360 in order to advise people on what to say from 175 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:53.360 inside their homes while ICE is at their front door. 176 00:11:00.280 --> 00:11:02.760 And while Marii is glad to see this type of 177 00:11:02.800 --> 00:11:06.120 response from the community, she will continue to stay as 178 00:11:06.280 --> 00:11:10.079 under the radar as possible. Even going to the grocery 179 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:13.760 store makes her anxious these days, but her faith, she says, 180 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:16.200 is what helps her santari. 181 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:21.640 For me right now, it's myself. I always repeat that 182 00:11:22.520 --> 00:11:26.280 I am my own sancturary. Now I have to find 183 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:29.920 ways to do that, to be my own santary. 184 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.400 While most people who took sanctuary in churches slipped back 185 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:47.760 under the radar, the well known sanctuary leader who we 186 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:52.040 mentioned earlier did not. In fact, she doubled down. And 187 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:54.720 even though Jeanette Visgertra was named as one of Time 188 00:11:54.760 --> 00:12:00.160 one hundred's most influential people in twenty seventeen, today she 189 00:12:00.280 --> 00:12:04.199 is not free. She's being held in an immigrant detention facility. 190 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:08.520 Coming up next I go inside that detention camp to 191 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:12.359 speak with her exclusively. We'll be right back, non Devyes, 192 00:12:35.040 --> 00:12:39.920 welcome back to Latino, USA. I'm Maria no Josa. Jeanette 193 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:43.360 Vizguerra is a well known name across the immigrant rights 194 00:12:43.400 --> 00:12:46.600 movement in the United States. She was in the news 195 00:12:46.760 --> 00:12:49.800 a lot, especially around twenty seventeen. 196 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:53.200 Jeanetteasguerra, who came to the US from Mexico about twenty 197 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:57.000 years ago. She has been living here undocumented ever since 198 00:12:57.200 --> 00:12:59.000 and has three American born children. 199 00:12:59.160 --> 00:13:03.200 I spoke with Jeanette Fiscata, a mother of four children 200 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:07.000 who's taken refuge in the First Unitarian Society Church of 201 00:13:07.080 --> 00:13:10.240 Denver out of fear she would be arrested and deported 202 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:10.880 to Mexico. 203 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:14.720 A Colorado mom, an immigration rights activist, has been named 204 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.520 to Times one hundred most Influential People in. 205 00:13:17.520 --> 00:13:22.840 The World Today, eight years after being recognized by Time magazine, 206 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:27.000 She's being held at an immigrant detention facility. Are we 207 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:28.880 close gonna make it work? 208 00:13:28.920 --> 00:13:29.120 Here? 209 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:33.000 This is the detention facility? Well, the most surprising thing 210 00:13:33.040 --> 00:13:35.760 about this detention facility is that it's not in the 211 00:13:35.760 --> 00:13:41.080 middle of nowhere. We're in Aurora, Colorado, and our team 212 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:46.320 is going into the Aurora Ice Processing Center with cameras 213 00:13:46.760 --> 00:13:49.400 in order to speak with Jeanette for an exclusive in 214 00:13:49.520 --> 00:13:53.200 person interview. She's been held here for two months now. 215 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:58.920 We were strictly prohibited from recording audio or video inside 216 00:13:59.040 --> 00:14:03.000 of the sprawling, fifteen hundred person detention camp, and we're 217 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:12.280 only allowed to record inside the room with Jeannette. We 218 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:15.440 set up in a small room they gave us to record. 219 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:19.240 A few minutes later, Jeanette walks in and we start 220 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:20.000 to speak. 221 00:14:19.760 --> 00:14:22.600 Toya no, it's for Marbella and Trebristo esmos. 222 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:27.200 Right away, Jeanette tells me what it has been like 223 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:29.800 to be detained here since March. 224 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:35.480 Dona queriando la vacteries to mac muchas Molestias, the lord 225 00:14:35.520 --> 00:14:36.800 abdominal in fram. 226 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:40.240 She starts by telling me that she thinks that because 227 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:44.840 of the unsanitary conditions inside of this detention facility, there 228 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:48.880 are many people, including herself, who are having severe stomach problems. 229 00:14:49.400 --> 00:14:55.680 Then she says nothing has changed, nada cambia. This is 230 00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:58.640 not the first time that Jeanette has been detained here. 231 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:04.040 This veteral immigration detention facility is privately run by the 232 00:15:04.160 --> 00:15:07.960 Geo Group, one of the largest private prison companies in 233 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:11.320 the country. Janette has been in the United States without 234 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:15.200 papers since nineteen ninety seven, and it wasn't until two 235 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:19.360 thousand and nine during a traffic stop that her issue 236 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:23.520 of status came up. To make a long story short, 237 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:28.360 Janette has tried unsuccessfully to get legal permanent status in 238 00:15:28.400 --> 00:15:31.720 the United States for well over a decade, and she's 239 00:15:31.760 --> 00:15:34.280 done so in the public eye as a way to 240 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:37.840 demand justice and to raise awareness about the millions of 241 00:15:37.920 --> 00:15:42.880 undocumented people in similar situations. That's why, when the election 242 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:46.200 results showed there would be a second Trump term, her 243 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:50.280 friends and even her colleagues told her to stay quiet, 244 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:51.800 to be careful. 245 00:15:52.400 --> 00:16:02.800 Guihati Kayada, Coolera, Siamigos, Mehlbertierro, Jeanett basan Nessitaistarkajada, Nagajuillo. 246 00:16:02.520 --> 00:16:08.000 Because they said they're going to come after you. And 247 00:16:08.560 --> 00:16:11.640 when Trump signed an executive order on the very first 248 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:16.040 day of his second term rolling back the internal Ice 249 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:22.680 memo that protected those sensitive locations, the media started contacting 250 00:16:22.800 --> 00:16:23.560 Jeannette as. 251 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:28.720 Well, Trump ending arrest protections for immigrants and sensitive places. 252 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:31.560 This reminded me of a story we covered for years 253 00:16:31.640 --> 00:16:35.160 here on Denver seven, the story of Jeanette Visgera, who 254 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.880 left Mexico, came to Colorado and spent almost three years 255 00:16:39.040 --> 00:16:42.920 on and off in a church sinking sanctuary. I called 256 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:46.280 Viscareta day about asking her her reactions to Trump's plan. 257 00:16:46.520 --> 00:16:51.520 This is that time they organizing for go together, fight 258 00:16:51.800 --> 00:16:55.440 all cheers. I'm living here. I paid Texas, Donald Trump 259 00:16:55.520 --> 00:16:59.800 not paid Texas. Trump have twenty four fellowists. Who is 260 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:00.880 the real criminal? 261 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:04.399 Scara says right now, she's focused on creating a network 262 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:07.720 of undisclosed safe places for undocumented immigrants. 263 00:17:08.080 --> 00:17:12.159 You were asking yourself lago or nolago? Do I speak 264 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:14.359 out or do I not speak out? After Trump had 265 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:14.679 been re. 266 00:17:14.760 --> 00:17:22.040 Elected, YAO come feeling de algol ambiente. 267 00:17:22.680 --> 00:17:26.160 She had an intuition that there was something in the air. 268 00:17:26.600 --> 00:17:29.440 Comes intuition the calgo pasa. 269 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:31.720 That's something was going to happen. 270 00:17:31.520 --> 00:17:37.800 To her pedodesposa primero perativo di no ploya peto. 271 00:17:39.560 --> 00:17:43.800 Janette knew she could be at risk, but staying silent, 272 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:45.840 she says, it just wasn't an option. 273 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:56.760 We arena marchant el domingostaran don the joisun jamada la communidad. 274 00:17:57.320 --> 00:18:02.040 On Sunday, March sixteenth, went to a rally and got 275 00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:06.440 on the megaphone. We are going to need new tactics 276 00:18:06.560 --> 00:18:09.520 in order to be able to protect the immigrant community. 277 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:18.119 How many days after you made that speech on that 278 00:18:18.320 --> 00:18:24.240 Sunday saying they are escalating, we have to escalate too 279 00:18:24.560 --> 00:18:28.840 as activists. How many days after that were you detained. 280 00:18:28.840 --> 00:18:29.639 El Yes again? 281 00:18:30.280 --> 00:18:36.320 The very next day, on March seventeenth, twenty twenty five, 282 00:18:36.600 --> 00:18:40.240 Janette was at work at a local target. She walked 283 00:18:40.280 --> 00:18:43.040 out into the parking lot on her break, and it 284 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:46.240 was there that she was detained by ICE agents. She 285 00:18:46.320 --> 00:18:49.199 says that while she was being detained, she looked at 286 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:52.560 one of the agent's phones and she noticed that the 287 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:56.400 person had been looking at Jeanette's social media accounts. 288 00:18:56.680 --> 00:19:00.920 Yoletich Is does Monitorian de Mirelis, says Publico. 289 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:05.640 According to Jeanette, while the officials were detaining her, one 290 00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:08.560 of them said, finally we got you. 291 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:12.919 I respondio otro perfindetre. 292 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:16.760 Brons and here's something that doesn't happen with every arrest. 293 00:19:17.600 --> 00:19:22.520 That same day, the Denver Ice office announced Jeanette's detention 294 00:19:23.040 --> 00:19:26.359 on Twitter by posting a picture of her in handcuffs 295 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:31.960 with a chain wrapped around her waist. Then, two days later, 296 00:19:32.560 --> 00:19:36.080 the top communications advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security, 297 00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:41.880 Christy Nome, tweeted this message. It said, Jeanette Risque ramp 298 00:19:42.040 --> 00:19:46.200 is a convicted criminal alien from Mexico. Under President Trump 299 00:19:46.280 --> 00:19:50.359 and Secretary Nome, we are once again a nation of laws. 300 00:19:50.760 --> 00:19:55.520 We will find, arrest and deport illegal aliens, regardless of 301 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:59.280 if they were a featured Time Person of the Year. 302 00:20:05.080 --> 00:20:10.360 Do you believe, Jeannette that you specifically, are being targeted 303 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:19.119 because of your activism, because you speak out. So I 304 00:20:19.600 --> 00:20:25.240 am a political prisoner, she says, I'm a political prisoner. 305 00:20:26.280 --> 00:20:28.280 I have to sit with that for a moment because 306 00:20:29.040 --> 00:20:31.800 in all of my decades of reporting on this issue, 307 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:35.040 this is the first time I've ever heard someone say 308 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:40.440 this from inside an immigrant detention facility. And it's not 309 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:43.119 just about Jeanette, she tells me. 310 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:46.480 Don Carindoka, yessus doan cariando. 311 00:20:48.280 --> 00:20:51.240 She says, they're trying to silence all people who speak 312 00:20:51.280 --> 00:20:54.840 up against the government. She says, they are trying to 313 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:56.040 erase us. 314 00:21:00.280 --> 00:21:05.159 No important on the US story and Brando rebel Chiliberte. 315 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:09.360 It doesn't matter where I am, Jeanette tells me, I'm 316 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:13.879 always planting the seeds of rebellion until we can harvest freedom. 317 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:17.720 But when Jeanette is talking about the work of sowing 318 00:21:17.840 --> 00:21:22.399 the seeds of rebellion, she's also talking about something literal, 319 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:27.080 something deep in her heart. Her four children, guess miss 320 00:21:27.080 --> 00:21:28.800 and yeah Oka. 321 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:31.600 Fire me chi. 322 00:21:33.560 --> 00:21:37.000 Her children, she says, are her hope for the future. 323 00:21:37.560 --> 00:21:40.920 They are what will continue her struggle no matter where 324 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:43.919 she is. For the two months that Jeannette has been 325 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:47.479 detained here. Her twenty one year old daughter, Luna, has 326 00:21:47.560 --> 00:21:50.239 become the public face of her campaign to free her. 327 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:54.040 It's not until you're affected that you really know how 328 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:57.679 this really is, how this really feels. We really need 329 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:01.800 to organize, We really need to start building way to 330 00:22:02.080 --> 00:22:04.080 really protect our neighbors. 331 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:08.920 Jeanette named her daughter Luna, the Spanish word for moon, 332 00:22:09.600 --> 00:22:12.800 for her family. She says, the moon has a very 333 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:16.800 special significance. Can you see the moon from your room 334 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:24.520 with isbela luna tuerto abesis sometimes quando la. 335 00:22:24.520 --> 00:22:30.919 Veo theo miscosqueo samon quer luna name significantou. 336 00:22:32.080 --> 00:22:35.159 In twenty thirteen, after having lived in the US for 337 00:22:35.280 --> 00:22:38.159 more than a decade, Jeanette went back to Mexico to 338 00:22:38.320 --> 00:22:45.480 see her dying mother, You the Siao la. A few 339 00:22:45.520 --> 00:22:49.080 months later, as she had promised to her children, she 340 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:52.080 decided to cross back over the border. 341 00:22:54.320 --> 00:22:57.560 In Medio quo sierto. 342 00:22:58.840 --> 00:22:59.840 Choaa Luna. 343 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:04.680 As she walked and walked through the mountainous desert at night, 344 00:23:05.040 --> 00:23:07.760 she says, she would look up at the moon. 345 00:23:08.560 --> 00:23:13.119 You lessius quada luna sawen Can you tell me leastbendo 346 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:14.360 yes knows what connected? 347 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.880 She really didn't know when she would see her kids again, 348 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:20.480 so she told them to look up at the moon 349 00:23:20.600 --> 00:23:23.119 when they thought of her. She wanted them to know 350 00:23:23.320 --> 00:23:27.720 that they were connected despite being in different places, just 351 00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:37.359 like they are today. She's been a labor organizer since 352 00:23:37.560 --> 00:23:40.320 even before they were born, when she arrived in Colorado 353 00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:42.720 in the late nineteen nineties, when she worked as a janitor, 354 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:46.960 and that's where she began organizing her workplace. And it's 355 00:23:47.040 --> 00:23:51.200 not like Jeanette isn't self aware. She knows she's seen 356 00:23:51.280 --> 00:23:54.439 as a rapple rouser. But still, as she told me earlier, 357 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:59.680 she never expected she would actually become a political prisoner. 358 00:24:01.040 --> 00:24:05.119 Nunka beenzeca uas a runa pressa politica and estados sunidos 359 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:08.320 don respecta lases. 360 00:24:08.080 --> 00:24:08.520 She says. 361 00:24:08.800 --> 00:24:11.520 I thought this was a country where they supposedly respect 362 00:24:11.560 --> 00:24:14.640 the law, and where you had the right to free speech. 363 00:24:15.040 --> 00:24:20.080 Expression de li berta, the expression don den recho de 364 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:23.040 manifestce de denusia. 365 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:26.639 And that right the First Amendment to the United States 366 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:31.800 Constitution is precisely what Janette's lawyers are arguing is being 367 00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:35.800 violated in her case. In fact, they have filed a 368 00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:39.800 First Amendment claim that says that she is being targeted 369 00:24:40.280 --> 00:24:43.840 not because of her legal status, but because of her 370 00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:49.240 activism and her politics, and she says she's not the 371 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:54.040 only one. Do you believe that you are the Mahmoud 372 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:57.080 Calille of the immigrant rights movement? 373 00:24:57.880 --> 00:25:00.720 Stamos and a mismasituacn in some. 374 00:25:00.840 --> 00:25:05.159 Most various we're in the same situation. She says, what 375 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:07.960 message do you believe that the United States government that 376 00:25:08.040 --> 00:25:13.200 the Trump administration is trying to send by keeping you detained? 377 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:21.160 Here isokara qulled care persona, no solomi a qual care 378 00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:22.960 persona in comola. 379 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:26.080 They're trying to show that they have the power to 380 00:25:26.280 --> 00:25:31.160 disappear anyone, she says, not just me, but anyone who 381 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:32.680 stands against them. 382 00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:43.120 So most Marla hented a convic cambio salves cabar consequences 383 00:25:43.640 --> 00:25:47.840 rotambi in a caprendre a segursus convictions. 384 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:52.960 Jeanette says that people with moral convictions need to live 385 00:25:53.080 --> 00:25:57.200 out their values, because she says, if we don't stop this, 386 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:02.080 the US will become just like other dictatorships. 387 00:26:03.040 --> 00:26:09.600 Sinstro no paramo estol, pueblo, iMOS conciencia estos seva converted 388 00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:12.640 arcot pladores. 389 00:26:19.280 --> 00:26:23.119 That was from our exclusive interview with Jeanette Bisguerra. We 390 00:26:23.240 --> 00:26:26.920 spoke to her from the Ice Detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, 391 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:31.280 where she is currently being held, and just this week 392 00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:34.600 it was announced that even though Jeanette remains in detention, 393 00:26:35.240 --> 00:26:38.840 she will receive the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Junior Human 394 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:43.359 Rights Award. This is for her quote moral courage and 395 00:26:43.560 --> 00:26:49.000 willingness to act on her convictions even at great personal risk. 396 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:01.040 This story was. 397 00:27:01.080 --> 00:27:04.560 Produced by Ariel Goodman. It was edited by our managing 398 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:09.159 editor Fernanda Echavari. It was mixed by Stephanie Lebou and 399 00:27:09.320 --> 00:27:14.040 jj Carubin fact checking by Rosanna Aguire. Special thanks to 400 00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:18.960 our videographer Cesa Valadez and to our voice actor Monica Errera. 401 00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:22.840