Denver Mayor Mike Johnston decried Vizguerra’s detention as an abuse of power and “Putin-style persecution of political dissidents.”

An undocumented mother and immigration reform activist who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement feared she was being followed in recent days, her daughter told CNN. Jeanette Vizguerra gained international attention in 2017 when she took sanctuary in a Denver church for three years to avoid deportation during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Jeanette Vizguerra, a Colorado advocate for immigrants who sheltered in a church for months in 2017, was detained by officials on Monday, local advocates said. The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition demanded the immediate release of Vizguerra after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained her at her workplace.