An immigration activist who has sought sanctuary from deportation inside a Denver church says federal authorities have denied her latest petition to stay in the U.S.

Jeanette Vizguerra said Thursday she will appeal the denial while living in the First Unitarian Society of Denver church to avoid deportation to Mexico.

Her attorney, Bryce Downer, says Vizguerra sought a “U visa,” a nonimmigrant visa available for victims of crime in the U.S.

He says Vizguerra included documentation from Denver police in her application.

Downer says the rejection cited Vizguerra’s misdemeanor use of a forged Social Security number in 2009 and her illegal re-entry to the U.S. after a 2012 visit to Mexico to tend to her dying mother.

Vizguerra has lived in the United States since 1997. She has three U.S.-born children.