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Undocumented immigrant seeks church sanctuary


Clarakore

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DENVER — On Wednesday morning, Jeanette Vizguerra was scheduled to show up for a check-in at the local office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Service.

Instead, Vizguerra, a 45-year-old undocumented immigrant from Mexico, sent  her attorney to request a stay of her deportation. As Hans Meyer entered the low-slung brown brick building, a pastor by his side, scores of protesters waving signs shouted “No hate, no fear. Immigrants are welcome here.”

A few minutes later, Meyer returned. Vizguerra’s request had been denied. Then an activist put Vizguerra on speakerphone and held it up to a megaphone and, her voice choking with tears, the mother of four delivered her announcement to the crowd: Vizguerra  had decided to seek sanctuary 15 miles away in a makeshift bedroom in the basement of First Unitarian Society of Denver. There, she would remain indefinitely.

“This is not the end… This is just a step in a long, long journey,” she declared in Spanish.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/02/15/this-undocumented-immigrant-just-announced-shes-seeking-sanctuary-at-a-church-now-she-waits/?utm_term=.7e6ed30d5cc0

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3 minutes ago, Avatar Samantha Ai said:

She is trying to provoke the agency. She has no constitutional rights because she isn't a legal immigrant. She has broken a federal law, our nation's laws in the process. She must be deported from United States and maybe if she comes back through legal channels, she will be welcome, but her poor choice of coming in through illegal means will haunt her. Legal immigrants wait years to get in, while she just crosses the border or jumps the fence to get in, how selfish of her. Not only this, she paid coyotes who are part of Cartel's operations, she was funding the same thing she ran away from.

Edited by Uncle Sam
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I don't take her side in this. She falsified a Social Security number information first of all. Is she going to stay in a basement sanctuary the rest of her life? Is Mexico that bad? Do we move everyone from Mexico to the USA then? No, I don't support her being given sanctuary. Plus I am sure the government agents can arrest you in a church basement if they wanted to.

Edited by papageorge1
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19 minutes ago, papageorge1 said:

 She falsified a Social Security number information first of all.

Every time they do that, they are stealing a citizen's identity.  It creates huge problems for the person that social security number really belongs too.

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Here is a bit more info. Vizguerra is in the process of receiving a U Visa.

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Last year Vizguerra, whose husband had been convicted of assaulting her years earlier, applied for a U Visa granted to crime victims, which would waive her removal order and give her a three-year visa. That application is still pending. In December, she requested another stay but has not yet received a decision. Her latest stay expired on Feb. 7.

 

She has three young children who are American citizens. Also there are contributions made to society on her behalf via owning property, starting a company and community involvement.

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She and her husband had three more children in the U.S., bought a house and ran a cleaning company. Shortly after she moved here, Vizguerra became an organizer for Service Employees International Union, a large labor union, and for Rights for All People, an immigrant-rights advocacy organization.

 

Here she is with her family in the church basement.

imrs_1.jpg

 

This is not the first case involving church sanctuaries or the only church.

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Over the last three years, the sanctuary movement has grown greatly. In 2014, it had attracted 250 congregations, including synagogues. Following raids in January 2016, the number climbed to 400 congregations, according to Rev. Noel Anderson of the World Church Movement, which works with and tracks the U.S. sanctuary movement. By November, the number of churches involved had doubled to roughly 800 congregations, Anderson said.

The total number of undocumented immigrants currently in sanctuary is unknown, in part because of the desire of undocumented immigrants and houses of worship to keep the cases private. A handful of cases have been well-publicized, however, including in Philadelphia, Chicago, Texas, Arizona and now Denver, where Vizguerra is one of two staying in house of worship.

 

This is not the first rodeo for this church either. 

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Vizguerra herself was an early activist in the sanctuary movement in Denver through the Quaker-based American Friends Service Committee. When Vizguerra’s first stay was about to expire in 2013, the First Unitarian Society of Denver was approached by the group to become a sanctuary church. The 400-member congregation voted overwhelmingly to do it, its pastor Rev. Mike Morran said.

After her deportation was stayed, Vizguerra helped the church prepare the room for an undocumented immigrant named Arturo Hernandez Garcia, who lived there for nine months until he received a stay in 2015. Now it’s Vizguerra’s turn.

Because the church has made a practice of publicly announcing to ICE its intentions to host an undocumented immigrant, Morran said he was told by a consulting lawyer that the church is not acting against the law.

 

Religious involvement has led to significant change before.

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Haynes noted that civil disobedience, especially among religious people, has been the key to success of almost every significant social movement in American history from abolition to suffrage to civil rights.

“For many religious people, protecting undocumented people is a matter of conscience — and they are willing to go to jail to live out this conviction,” he said.

 

She has support.

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She’s received letters of support from federal, state and local officials, and Democratic Rep. Jared Polis has introduced a bill to grant her permanent residency.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/02/15/this-undocumented-immigrant-just-announced-shes-seeking-sanctuary-at-a-church-now-she-waits/?utm_term=.4dc310a39bf5

Edited by Avatar Samantha Ai
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Religious institution or not they are aiding and abetting a criminal here illegally.

She knew the score when she crossed the border illegally then she uses a fake ss number, drives without a license and no current vehicle registration. 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/15/immigrant-takes-refuge-in-denver-church-to-avoid-d/

 

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1 hour ago, Avatar Samantha Ai said:

.Also there are contributions made to society on her behalf via owning property, starting a company and community involvement.

There is no way she started a company legally, she would have had to steal someones social security number.  Who did she employ?  Other illegals with stolen identities?

While I am sympathetic, she did break the law, likely stole an identity and as sad as her story is, there are real consequences she will have to face.

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40 minutes ago, Ashotep said:

Religious institution or not they are aiding and abetting a criminal here illegally.

She knew the score when she crossed the border illegally then she uses a fake ss number, drives without a license and no current vehicle registration. 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/15/immigrant-takes-refuge-in-denver-church-to-avoid-d/

 

It isn't a fake Social Security, it is a real one, but it isn't hers. She stole the SS number and was using it, identity thief for that matter.

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5 minutes ago, Uncle Sam said:

It isn't a fake Social Security, it is a real one, but it isn't hers. She stole the SS number and was using it, identity thief for that matter.

It was a fake one. She made up the numbers in that one case.

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3 minutes ago, Avatar Samantha Ai said:

It was a fake one. She made up the numbers in that one case.

How did that pass? You can't use or get anything with a SS number unless it is real.

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7 minutes ago, Uncle Sam said:

How did that pass? You can't use or get anything with a SS number unless it is real.

Many employers if not most outside government positions do not check social security numbers.

When they pay taxes the social security system does not report back if fake or stolen but places those funds in trust

 It is a lot of money.

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The numbers are used in the United States by the government to track employees for tax purposes.

...

With tacit acceptance from some employers and poor coordination among government agencies, this practice provides the backbone of some low- wage businesses and a boon to the Social Security trust fund.

During the 1990s, such mismatches accounted for about $20 billion in Social Security taxes paid.

...

Illegal immigrants make up nearly one of every 20 workers in the United States, according to estimates by the Pew Hispanic Center, and most are working under fraudulent Social Security numbers, which can be bought in any immigrant community or in Mexico.

In Caldwell, Idaho, a woman named Maria is just such a worker.

Maria, 51, came from Mexico City illegally six years ago and bought a counterfeit green card and Social Security card through a friend for $180. She earns $6.50 an hour, and like most of the seven million working illegal immigrants in the United States, she pays income tax and Social Security tax.

She agreed to be interviewed on the condition that her last name not be used.

"We know we'll never get it back," Maria said of the Social Security payments. "It's unfortunate, but it's a given."

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2006/09/04/world/americas/04iht-id.2688618.html

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1 hour ago, Avatar Samantha Ai said:

Many employers if not most outside government positions do not check social security numbers.

When they pay taxes the social security system does not report back if fake or stolen but places those funds in trust

 It is a lot of money.

I'm going to step away from this thread, I have some strong opinions on the subject, but I'm going to do myself a favor and walk away.

Edited by Four Winds
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9 hours ago, Four Winds said:

I'm going to step away from this thread, I have some strong opinions on the subject, but I'm going to do myself a favor and walk away.

I applaud your restraint. Wish more people had half of yours.

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12 hours ago, Avatar Samantha Ai said:

Many employers if not most outside government positions do not check social security numbers.

When they pay taxes the social security system does not report back if fake or stolen but places those funds in trust

 It is a lot of money.

The companies I have worked for always did I-9 forms (Employment Eligibility Verification) for any employees they hired. I believe it is mandatory.

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7 minutes ago, Bama13 said:

The companies I have worked for always did I-9 forms (Employment Eligibility Verification) for any employees they hired. I believe it is mandatory.

of course they do. unless you are paid cash "under the table" or a consultant\ temp worker.  all w2 employees are verified by HR. but op is clueless 7 out of 10 times i noticed.

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She had a fake/stolen SS#...but it didn't flag because she wasn't paying TAXES..!!! She had a Cleaning Business in which clients pay her in cash or check and she doesn't have to claim it as income because she doesn't report to the IRS and Pay Taxes...anyone that may have worked for her would also be paid in Cash. No Taxes to pay that way...and 90% of the illegal's send a good portion of that back to Mexico for family....so she was NOT contributing to America. She is an Illegal Alien who is making money and playing the system to avoid actually paying Taxes like the rest of us. When will all of you "supporter's" of this BS wake the hell up..??? And...by using a Fake/Stolen SS# she was most likely recieving Government assistance of some kind because she had NO Job to report...techniccally in the Government's eye she had 3 kids and NO job....so assistance was probably given.

 

If you tried to do this in another country you would be inprisoned...deported...and/or worse. People who are LAW abiding citizen's in this country are Sick and Tired of hearing other's defend criminal's who SUCK the money and Job's from them. The BS Leftist idea that they only take Job's other's don't want is pure lies...period..! Whenever the facts are presented they SHOUT Racism and other garbage with no real defense in the arguement....because there is NO real argument.

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1 hour ago, truthseeker68 said:

The BS Leftist idea that they only take Job's other's don't want is pure lies...period..! 

16729392_1224913460877429_9043459434508948480_n.png?oh=f14a2a83b7e33d1230f542e28c49c151&oe=592F7F22

btw there is i129 form, that allows a farm owner to bring pretty much anyone as a temp farm worker, legally. 

Edited by aztek
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9 minutes ago, aztek said:

16729392_1224913460877429_9043459434508948480_n.png?oh=f14a2a83b7e33d1230f542e28c49c151&oe=592F7F22

btw there is i129 form, that allows a farm owner to bring pretty much anyone as a temp farm worker, legally. 

Prisoners, teenagers, college kids...they can't all be baristas.

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3 hours ago, Bama13 said:

The companies I have worked for always did I-9 forms (Employment Eligibility Verification) for any employees they hired. I believe it is mandatory.

I-9s are not submitted for verification but held in storage in case a government agency wishes to inspect them.

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Where to file

Do not file Form I-9 with USCIS or U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Employers must have a completed Form I-9 on file for each person on their payroll who is required to complete the form. Form I-9 must be retained and stored by the employer either for three years after the date of hire or for one year after employment is terminated, whichever is later. The form must be available for inspection by authorized U.S. Government officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Labor, or Department of Justice.

 

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Purpose of form

 ...  

On the form, an employee must attest to his or her employment authorization. The employee must also present his or her employer with acceptable documents evidencing identity and employment authorization. The employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and to relate to the employee and record the document information on the Form I-9. The list of acceptable documents can be found on the last page of the form. Employers must retain Form I-9 for a designated period and make it available for inspection by authorized government officers.  

https://www.uscis.gov/i-9

Edited by Avatar Samantha Ai
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we so need face palm smiley.

ss is verified during background check, by pretty much all companies who have hr dept and do background checks. before employment.

 

What is a background check?

Background checks are performed at the final stage of the hiring process. Put simply, they’re legal checks into your past to ensure that you are who you say you are.

A background check cannot take place without your written consent.

The background check that has been requested will cover:

Social Security Number (SSN) validation

Address history

Sex Offender list

Global watch list

National criminal search

County criminal searches

https://resources.workable.com/support/your-background-check

Edited by aztek
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