DENVER As part of the Trump administration’s massive deportation campaign targeting major cities, heavily armed federal officials searched apartment buildings throughout metro Denver early Wednesday seeking Venezuelan gang members and other migrants.
Before dawn, at least two dozen officers with powerful weapons stormed multiple complexes. They were occasionally supported by huge, military-style automobiles.
On social media, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it was pursuing the arrest and custody of 100 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The number of those arrested was not specified.
Officers from the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement participated in the operation.
A request for comment from ICE was not immediately answered.
Although convicted criminals are the administration’s primary targets, noncriminals may also be apprehended during raids.
Many people hid in their apartments because of fear that federal officials would storm in, according to witnesses, who said they were taken by surprise when the agents descended on their residences. When authorities knocked on many people’s doors, they refused to answer.
A 31-year-old Venezuelan guy at a Denver apartment complex reported that just after 5 a.m., federal officials, including ICE agents, started shouting and noisily knocking on all the doors.
The individual, who requested that his name not be used because he feared deportation, claimed that as big trucks and unmarked cars pulled into the parking lot, locals surreptitiously looked out their windows.
According to several locals, eight persons were taken into custody at the complex.
He claimed that once all of the agents had departed, people fled in terror, refused to open their doors, and kept silent.
Referring to immigration officials, he claimed that many of his neighbors have pending asylum applications or other types of temporary protection from deportation, but that none of that matters to them.
He stated, “We don’t know if they’ll just take us and deport us even with an asylum case.” Because we don’t know if they will return for us, we live in terror and uncertainty.
In a statement, Mayor Mike Johnston said that he was aware of an immigration enforcement activity occurring at an apartment complex in Denver.
According to Johnston, we have verified that there hasn’t been any activity in schools, hospitals, or churches by speaking with Denver Public Schools and other municipal partners. We were not notified in advance of these acts, nor were Denver Police or city officials involved. All day long, we shall keep an eye on these events.
outside seven in the morning, a Colombian immigrant at the Cedar Run apartment complex—one of three raided in neighboring Aurora—said he was leaving the building to drop his daughter off at school when he noticed a lot of federal officers gathered outside the property.
Without hesitation, he turned around and returned to his apartment upstairs. For several hours, federal agents patrolled the building’s hallways, noisily knocking on doors, presenting themselves as immigration officers, and urging everyone to come outdoors.
Rather than open their door, the immigrant and his family chose to keep quiet.
The man, who requested that his name not be used out of fear of reprisals from federal officials, claimed that it seemed like they were banging on every door in our corridor but that no one answered. He resides with his daughters and wife. We simply remained silent and indoors.
A Venezuelan immigrant named Carlos Rodriguez, who had resided at the Edge at Lowry condominiums where a video was captured last year of armed men—possibly members of the Tren de Aragua gang—going door to door, said the raids have caused him to reevaluate his decision to live in the United States.
“I truly want to return to Venezuela,” he stated. I no longer feel comfortable walking down the street.
At the Cedar Run apartments were volunteers from the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, a fast reaction network of local advocates that provides legal observers and counselors to ICE operations.
Legal observers repeatedly requested that agents produce a search or arrest order, but no such document was produced, according to Raquel Lane-Arellano, the group’s communications manager. “On the scene, the observers saw dozens of agents and a bus to transport arrestees, but they only saw a few arrests,” she claimed.
“It raised questions about ICE’s stated intention to target Tren de Aragua members from Venezuela,” Lane-Arellano said, referring to the individuals who were arrested and spoke to legal observers on the scene and identified themselves as being from numerous countries, including those in Africa.
“We have not seen any criminal charges, but there is this allegation of gang affiliation,” she said. In reality, it’s really an immigration raid with vague, apparently unsubstantiated accusations.
According to a 37-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker who begged that his name not be published out of fear of deportation, agents arrived at another Aurora complex while it was still dark and knocked on all the doors as frightened migrants huddled inside their homes.
“We had no idea what was happening,” he claimed. They knocked so forcefully that the doors might have been smashed.
He claimed that nobody had unlocked their front doors and that he was unsure if agents were searching for certain individuals or criminals. He claimed he had no knowledge of any arrests occurring on his floor.
He said that we are not criminals and mentioned that he had heard that ICE was also detaining those who possessed papers.
The Venezuelan guy claimed that because of political persecution in his native country, he has an asylum petition pending in the United States.
“I am unable to return,” he said.
A 22-year-old Venezuelan immigrant at the same building reaffirmed that officers loudly knocked on all the doors, and that residents were afraid and didn’t open them.
The man, who also requested that his name not be used, stated that even though he had an open asylum petition, he fears deportation.
A Venezuelan immigrant claimed that early in the morning, police knocked on the doors of another Aurora housing complex, but not his.
The man claimed he had intended to leave his apartment on Wednesday but chose to stay after learning that ICE was snooping around and taking some of my neighbors. He requested that his name and age not be revealed because he was afraid about being deported.
He claimed that because he was too scared to look outside and see what was going on, he hid in his room.
Residents were observed hurrying out of their apartments hours after the searches. To avoid being seen, a number of residents hid behind corners and entered and exited their apartments in silence.
According to the 22-year-old Venezuelan, ICE is searching for everyone. They are also searching for hardworking individuals who are assisting the United States.
Daniella Silva reported from New York City, while Deon J. Hampton and David Noriega reported from Colorado.