Actor Diane Guerrero meets immigrant taking refuge in church

DENVER – Actor Diane Guerrero has met with a woman who is seeking refuge from deportation in the basement of a Denver church.

Guerrero, who stars in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, met with Jeanette Vizguerra on Thursday and told the woman and her daughters not to make the same mistake she did as a child by remaining silent.

Guerrero was 14 when her parents and her older brother were deported to their native Colombia. She decided to stay behind and live with friends.

Guerrero was in Denver for a gathering of immigrant rights activists.

Vizquerra has been living in the basement of the First Unitarian Church since February out of fear of being deported. She was recently named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year.