Updated at 12:12 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024
The presence of a Venezuelan gang in Aurora became a talking point in Tuesday’s presidential debate, with former President Donald Trump once again using the situation to argue for an immigration crackdown.
In his first answer, Trump name-checked Aurora, along with an Ohio town with a large Haitian population, claiming that criminal immigrants “are taking over the towns, they are taking over buildings, they are going in violently.”
It was at least the third time in recent weeks that Trump has referred to the presence of Venezuelan gang members in Aurora. It is part of Trump’s years-long portrayal of immigrants as dangerous and violent, though researchers have consistently found no link between immigration and crime.
Trump’s claims about Aurora can be traced to allegations made by the landlord of several apartment buildings; the company claims that Venezuelan gang members have “taken over” its buildings, trying to kick out apartment managers and extort rent payments. The apartments, owned by CBZ Management, are home to hundreds of people, including many new immigrants who were placed there by local nonprofits.
Aurora mayor and councilmember respond to Donald Trump's claims
Local officials acknowledge that the gang Tren de Aragua has a presence in the Denver metro area, but claim it is relatively small, and dwarfed by the activities of domestic gangs.
On Wednesday, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky issued a joint statement on the issue. They denied that Tren de Aragua (TdA) has "taken over" the city, pushing back on statements by Trump and the Colorado Republican Party.
"As for the perception and reality of public safety in Aurora, please understand that issues experienced at a select few properties do not apply to the city as a whole or large portions of it. The overstated claims fueled by social media and through select news organizations are simply not true. Again, TdA’s presence in Aurora is limited to specific properties, all of which the city has been addressing in various ways for months," they wrote. Both are Republicans, and Jurinsky has been central in raising concerns about the gang.
Still, Coffman and Jurinsky both acknowledged that Tren de Aragua has become a problem at several Aurora apartment complexes owned by CBZ Management. Aurora police have identified at least 10 people with potential connections to the gang. Officers have arrested eight of those people, including two related to a recent shooting.
"In line with these arrests, we can also now confirm that criminal activity, including TdA issues, had significantly affected those properties," Coffman and Jurinsky work.
Complaints from residents about criminal activity have surfaced, too. Cindy Romero said she captured video of armed men entering an apartment at The Edge at Lowry, which she shared with local media. She told CBS News that she regularly saw people with automatic weapons and witnessed shootouts, with the police offering little help. Police have heard allegations of rent theft at the affected buildings.
However, many residents of the apartments say the talk of gang control is false or exaggerated. At a recent press conference, some said that the video of the armed men was a “one-time” event. And they also said that they were more concerned about their landlord and the mismanagement and neglect of the building.
Apartment residents also said the attention on the situation has made them the subject of death threats and racist rhetoric from outsiders. Meanwhile, Mayor Coffman has said he wants to shut down the affected apartments, though the city has backed off that idea for now.
What else has Donald Trump said about Aurora, and how has Kamala Harris responded?
Trump previously talked about the Aurora apartments on a podcast and at a speech in Michigan, where he stoked fears of “migrant crime.”
Researchers have repeatedly debunked the idea that immigrants — whether or not they are documented — commit crimes at higher rates than native-born Americans. Other research has found no connection between the number of undocumented residents in a community and its crime rates.
Trump also raised other contested — and sometimes unfounded — claims about immigrants, including that recent immigrants are eating house pets in Ohio. “They are eating cats and they are eating the pets of people that live there,” he said. Officials in Ohio say that’s not happening.
During the debate, Vice President Kamala Harris defended her record on immigration, portraying herself as a prosecutor who has cracked down on trans-national criminal organizations. And she blamed Trump for sinking a bipartisan immigration proposal earlier this year.
“He preferred to run on the problem, instead of fixing it,” she argued.
More information on the claims of Venezuelan gang activity in Aurora
Police officials in Denver and Aurora have linked members of the Tren de Aragua gang to several specific crimes, including an attempted murder at Fitzsimons Place and the robbery of a Denver jewelry store. Aurora police say they’ve arrested 10 people suspected of being Tren de Aragua members in recent weeks.
Officials in Denver and Aurora strongly dispute the idea that the gang has taken control of any part of either city.
Rep. Jason Crow, the Democrat who represents Aurora in Congress, earlier said that the “gang issues are being grossly exaggerated and misrepresented,” arguing that gang activity in the city is “consistent with trends across Colorado” and that violent crime is declining across the metro.
“We have isolated incidents of gang activity that’s being addressed by federal and local law enforcement and the metro gang task force,” he recently said. “They are doing exactly what law enforcement should be doing. And they’re addressing it with focus and with intentions. And I’ve talked to them and I’m confident they are going to continue to do so.”
The flow of immigrants to the Denver metro area dropped dramatically after President Joe Biden enacted new policies limiting asylum claims over the summer — though only after more than 40,000 people arrived in recent years. The issue of recent immigration is likely to dominate not just the presidential election, but also contested Congressional elections in Colorado.
Editor's Note: This article was updated with comments from Coffman and Jurinsky.
