A mother-of-four has taken refuge in a Denver church to avoid deportation after US immigration authorities denied her request to remain in the country.

Jeanette Vizguerra, 45, entered the US from Mexico in 1997.

She skipped her scheduled check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on Wednesday in suburban Centennial.

Jeanette Vizguerra has taken sanctuary in a Denver church after her Stay of Deportation was declined

Ms Vizguerra's Stay of Deportation expired last week and she believed she would be immediately deported if she met with the officers.

The undocumented migrant, whose three youngest children were born in the US, has taken sanctuary in the First Unitarian Society of Denver church in the city's Capitol Hill district.

She claims she has fought deportation for eight years.

ICE says Ms Vizguerra is an 'enforcement priority' because she has two misdemeanor convictions.

Her attorney's office confirmed she had a few traffic tickets and the last one led to her being charged with a misdemeanor involving forged documents.

A judge issued a deportation order for her in 2011.

'This is not just an attack on me but an attack on the whole immigrant community,' Ms Vizguerra told CBS Denver. 'We have to look and see what we're going to do, how we're going to take action to protect ourselves.'

The grandmother's case sparked protests in the city and around 100 people gathered in Centennial on Wednesday calling on officials to let her stay.

The case has sparked protests in the city and around 100 people gathered in Centennial calling for her to be allowed to stay

Ms Vizguerra arrived in the US from Mexico in 1997. She says she has been battling deportation for eight years

It is believed Ms Vizguerra is the first undocumented immigrant to seek sanctuary since Donald Trump took office.

Curbing immigration and deporting those in the US illegally was a major issue in the president's campaign and last week ICE arrested around 600 undocumented people in a series of raids nationwide.

Since his inauguration last month, a number of churches have said they are preparing to offer sanctuary to those fleeing deportation.

ICE says Ms Vizguerra is an 'enforcement priority' because she has two misdemeanor convictions and a judge had issued a deportation order for her in 2011

Rev. Mike Morran defended the decision to grant her sanctuary

'It is our position as a people of faith that this is sacred, and faithful work,' he said during a news conference at his church. 'We know Jeanette. We know her to be an honorable human being.'

Vizguerra became an immigration rights activist even as she fought to stay in the country.

Her case follows the deportation of a Phoenix-area woman last week under similar circumstances.