Immigration authorities must provide detained activist Jeanette Vizguerra with a bail hearing in the next week, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in Denver. The order offers an avenue for potential temporary release for Vizguerra, an immigrant without proper legal status who has spent nine months in f ederal immigration detention. The activist was arrested in March and has been fighting efforts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain and deport her ever since. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Nina Wang requires that authorities give Vizguerra the opportunity to seek a temporary release before an immigration judge in Aurora’s detention center by Christmas Eve. Her hearing is currently set for Friday morning, according to one of her attorneys, Laura Lichter. If granted bail, Vizguerra would be released from detention while her immigration case continues to wind its way through the courts. Because Vizguerra is fighting her deportation both in federal court and in immigration court, it will likely be “many months or even years” before her case is fully resolved, Wang said. The Mexico-born activist has lived in the United States for more than 30 years and has repeatedly fought attempts to deport her, though she accepted a voluntary departure in 2011. During the first Trump administration, she sought shelter in a Denver church and was named by TIME as one of the most influential people of 2017. She left the church’s sanctuary and was given reprieves by ICE. Related Articles Federal judge sides with Colorado reps, blocking ICE limits on congressional visits to detention centers How JBS used TikTok to lure Haitian refugees to work at its Colorado meat-processing plant Rural health providers could be collateral damage from $100K Trump visa fee Denver council rejects city contract with Key Lime Air over role in ICE detainee flights Kids left without representation in Colorado immigration court after federal funding cuts But early in Trump’s second term, she was arrested in March in what her attorneys have argued was an intentional effort to detain and deport her because of advocacy that’s protected by the First Amendment. Her detention was celebrated by ICE on social media, and one agent allegedly told her, “We finally got you.” In Wednesday’s order, Wang said Vizguerra’s allegations that she was targeted specifically because of her speech raised “serious due process concerns.” ...read more read less