Activists and community members from Aurora and Denver gathered outside Geo Group-ICE detention facility Monday to demand the release of Jeanette Vizguerra, a prominent immigrant rights activist who was detained earlier this year. Vizguerra’s arrest has sparked outrage and a series of standing protests outside the Aurora detention center from her supporters.
In May, Vizguerra’s attorneys filed a motion in the federal district court of Colorado asking for her release on bond. Vizguerra was named as one of the 2025 recipients of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Awards for her activism. Her family travelled to Washington, D.C. to accept the award on her behalf.
Vizguerra spoke via a phone call from inside the facility to the crowd; her daughter translated.
“It’s not easy to once again see my family broken as well as seeing herself stripped from her community and not being able to be at events such as this,” Vizguerra said. “During this time, I have been listening to the stories of the other women in this detention center who have unrightfully been separated from their families. While hearing their stories and about these injustices, the one highlight I see is that our case has once again brought our community back together. We must remember that love has no borders; we must keep taking care of each other, protecting each other, as a community. This is the start of a much larger fight. We must continue to have more people come together to go against these corrupt regimes, not only the current government but also the rich who keep preying on the lower and middle class.”
Vizguerra added that seeing support from her community gave her the strength to persevere. “During the 16 years of my case going on, there have been multiple times where I have been on the brink of giving up, of no longer continuing this work, but seeing my family and community come together, it fortifies my strength to continue,” she said.
According to organizers, members of Colorado’s congressional delegation were asked to attend and to tour the facility; members of Congress are given the privilege to tour federal facilities.
Although no members of the delegation appeared at the event, several state lawmakers attended to show solidarity with the event.
“I brought my legislative colleagues here to demonstrate our solidarity with the community who is appalled by the tactics that immigration and customs enforcement agents are increasingly using that interrupt due process, that disrupt people’s ability to find resolutions to their court cases, and who are terrorizing entire communities across the state,” said state Sen. Julie Gonzales (D-Denver).
Gonzales said she has seen reports of poor conditions at the GEO facility, including a lack of access to adequate medical care and reports of soggy or moldy food. Along with Gonzales, state Senators Kathy Kipp, Lisa Cutter, Mike Weissman, and James Coleman, the current president of the Colorado Senate, as well as state Rep. Brianna Titone, were in attendance.
“I’m here from East Boulder County, I came out to stand up for our immigrant community, and folks know we are standing with them as the destruction from the federal level comes down,” said state Sen. Katie Wallace (D-Longmont).
The rally is part of a planned protest that has met every Monday since Vizguerra’s arrest. Over 15 different groups were involved in organizing yesterday’s events, including: the American Friends Service Committee, Aurora Unidos, the Public Defenders Union, the First Unitarian Society of Denver, Students For A Democratic Society, and the Denver Chapter of the Party of Socialism and Liberation.
Local music artists performed at the event last night, including the Flobots, Izcalli, Wheelchair Sports Camp, 2MX2, Laura Goldhammer, Pinkhawks, and Gora Gora Orkestar.
Photos by Noah Smith and Owen Swallow
