Important Takeaways:
- As Colorado combats rising gang violence from illegal immigration, six counties are suing the state over a law they say hobbles their ability to tackle migrant crime.
- Those counties are battling a state law that prohibits local law enforcement from communicating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- The issue is boiling over in the region as at least one Denver suburb is seeing an unprecedented influx of transnational gang activity and armed migrants were recently seen taking over an apartment complex.
- Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon said “We have been apprised that there has absolutely been an increase in property crimes, assault and trafficking, and it’s specific issues with the cartels coming out of Venezuela.”
- Officials in Aurora, a city within Douglas County nine miles east of Denver, previously told Fox News Digital that the notorious Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua had developed a strong foothold in their community, putting “entire apartment complexes under gang control.”
- Days later, video went viral of armed members of the gang storming an Aurora apartment complex just before a shoot-out occurred in the parking lot.
- “Parts of the city are absolutely under this gang control. The local media is downplaying this,” Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky said. “I believe politics is being played with people’s lives. … Nothing is being done to help the American citizens that are being trapped under this gang’s control.”
- The handful of red counties suing Colorado don’t share the sanctuary city policies that brought more than 40,000 migrants to Denver, and several instituted their own laws in an effort to barricade themselves against migrant populations expanding outward.
- “We feel that it simply doesn’t make any sense for a law enforcement agency to not have the ability to work with any other law enforcement agency but then have a restriction on our ability to work with immigration,” El Paso County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf said
- “It’s incredibly frustrating to be in a state where our state government is completely ignoring reality. We have been telling our state government this is very problematic. I hope that they will take note. I don’t have a lot of confidence. We are seeing the leadership in our state not wanting to accept reality.”
- Chris Swecker, the former head of the FBI’s criminal investigation division, previously told Fox News Digital that this influx of gang members was “predictable and preventable” and that federal law enforcement agencies would be needed to combat it.
- “At this point, federal agencies should get involved,” he added. “The bureau has to get involved with ATF and DEA, share their intelligence and approach this as an international crime problem.”
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