Letter asking President-Elect Joe Biden to meet with sanctuary leader in Wilmington, DE
January 11th, 2021
Dear President-Elect Joe Biden:
My name is Jeanette Vizguerra and through this letter, I would like to officially request a meeting with you and/or your staff. I am an undocumented immigrant mother of four who is currently in deportation proceedings. I am also part of the over 11 million undocumented immigrants who have been criminalized and demonized by the current and past administrations. My deportation process started over 11 years ago, and I have had to be in sanctuary three different times to avoid being detained, deported and separated from my family. Living in sanctuary for the last five years has drastically impacted my life and the life of my children. Living in Sanctuary means having to put my life on hold and rely on the love, support and solidarity of our faith-based community to keep me safe from the harm of CBP and ICE.
That being said, being in Sanctuary has not kept me from continuing to organize and fight for the rights of my immigrant community.
The current administration has ignored my case due to my public activism and struggle, and this is why I have decided to leave the safety of my current sanctuary location to come to Wilmington, DE, and request a meeting with you. Leaving my Sanctuary location places a huge risk of being detained by ICE, yet it is a risk I feel I have to take in order to make sure my voice and demands are heard by you and your administration. I am aware your staff has been meeting with other people who are in sanctuary like myself. There are currently over 150 people in sanctuary in the United States whose lives have remained in limbo for far too long. We are all looking for solutions in our deportation cases so we can keep our families united and be able to live our lives in peace.
When it comes to immigration, the attention is mostly focused on a few individuals; DACA recipients and TPS holders. But there are many immigrants who have been left behind by the media and our elected leaders. My hope is that individuals and families currently in Sanctuary not get left behind in any relief efforts your administration is considering. The past four years have been a nightmare for immigrant families. We have to undo the web of hatred and bigotry that has been directed towards our immigrant community if we are to truly begin the process of healing as a Nation.
Millions of undocumented immigrants have hope that you will do the right thing for the immigrant community and do what the previous administrations have failed to do. As an immigrant mother who lives in the United States and has contributed so much to my community, I ask that myself and the over 150 individuals currently in sanctuary be included in any immigration relief policy.
I hope to have the opportunity to meet in person with you and your staff to better understand how you plan on supporting my case and the case of others in my similar reality once you become president. I know your office has already confirmed receiving my earlier meeting request. If you don’t respond to my request you will make it clear that we will be starting off on the wrong footing, similar to past administrations. My hope is that you will do the right thing, it may not happen during this visit, But I hope it will in the near future. I am a leader in a coalition in Denver and work directly with other families who are also in Sanctuary and similar to myself they also deserve a permanent solution to their current situation. Today, Denver families in Sanctuary will also be taking on the same risk as myself in order to have our voices heard by our elected officials. How much more risk do we need to take in order to be heard?
Sincerely,
Jeanette Vizguerra
