Janet Bizegara, an immigrant rights activist in the United States, was arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the 17th (local time), drawing attention from major foreign media outlets. CNN assessed that "Bizegara's arrest has become the most recent example symbolizing the fear and chaos caused by the immigrant crackdown of the Donald Trump administration."
Bizegara, who works at a Target store in the Denver area of Colorado, was arrested while taking a break after finishing her shift and is currently detained at the ICE facility in Colorado. According to The Washington Post, ICE has received a final deportation order for Bizegara from a Department of Justice immigration judge.
Bizegara has been known as an 'icon of resistance' in the immigrant community in the U.S. During the first year of the Trump administration in 2017, Bizegara gained fame by living in hiding for about three months in the basement of a church in Colorado to avoid deportation. That year, U.S. news magazine Time selected Bizegara as one of the 100 most influential people in the world alongside Jeff Bezos, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump.
Now 53 years old, Bizegara moved to the United States in 1997 for the safety of her family. At that time, she had a young daughter, and Mexico City was a dangerous place where her husband, who worked as a bus driver, had been kidnapped three times. After moving to the U.S., Bizegara had three more children while living as an undocumented immigrant.
She became a person of interest to ICE after using a fake Social Security number on a job application in 2009. Bizegara was convicted at that time and received a voluntary departure order from the court, eventually returning to Mexico in 2012 after an appeal. The following year, after re-entering the U.S., Bizegara was arrested by ICE in Texas but was released as she was not a priority for deportation.
When the Trump administration, which takes a firm stance against illegal immigration, was inaugurated, Bizegara faced another deportation crisis, but she managed to stall by living in a church. This was because churches, along with schools, were exempt from immigration law enforcement at the time. Subsequently, the Joe Biden administration granted Bizegara's deportation relief in 2021, and since then, she has lived a normal life as a mother of four and a Target employee.
Bizegara's arrest is unusual in light of what Tom Homan, the 'border czar' of the Trump administration, has stated regarding the prioritization of deportations for individuals considered threats to public safety and national security. Bizegara has a criminal record, but it only involves minor offenses, and she has been active as a human rights activist. Homan has previously stated since late last year, "We will focus on the worst of the worst."
Following the news of Bizegara's arrest, there has been criticism from various quarters. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston compared Bizegara's arrest to 'Soviet-style political repression.' Johnston said, "This is not immigration enforcement. She is a mother of U.S. citizens, a Target employee, and a nonprofit founder," adding that "Bizegara's arrest does not make our community safer."
Currently, a petition challenging the detention has been submitted to the Denver federal court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Additionally, some citizens have gathered at the Aurora facility where she is detained to protest Bizegara's detention.
U.S. media have reported that the Trump administration is ramping up the speed of arrests of nonviolent individuals. On the 8th, Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University and a Palestinian activist, was arrested. Khalil held a student visa and permanent residency.
Axios reported, "Bizegara's case is a follow-up to other high-profile incidents where federal immigration authorities have detained nonviolent individuals," noting that "immigrant rights groups express concern that a series of arrests indicates the administration's immigration crackdown has entered a new phase, potentially signaling efforts to silence critics."