Red counties battle blue state’s immigration stance as immigrant gangs take over suburbs

As Colorado grapples with rising gang violence fueled by illegal immigration, six counties are suing the state over a law they say limits its ability to combat immigrant crime.

These counties are battling a state law that bars local law enforcement from communicating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The problem is simmering in the region, as at least one Denver suburb has seen an unprecedented influx of international gang activity, with armed migrants recently seen taking over an apartment complex.

El Paso, Elbert, Garfield, Mesa and Rio Blanco counties joined Douglas County in a lawsuit against the state and its governor in April. They argue that HB119-1124, which prohibits local governments from cooperating with the federal government in enforcing immigration laws, violates the state constitution and violates the United States Supremacy Clause, which prohibits state laws from violating federal ones.

“Our local law enforcement would like to be able to communicate with local immigration officials,” said Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon. “We’ve been told there’s an absolute increase in property crimes, assaults, human trafficking, and specific issues with cartels coming out of Venezuela.”

“(Colorado) has made us feel like we don’t have the tools we need, and that’s incredibly frustrating,” said El Paso County Commissioner Carrie Geitner.

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In 2019, the bill passed the state House of Representatives 36-28, with nearly every Republican representative voting against it. Several Democrats also opposed the bill.

In May, the bill passed the state Senate on a party-line vote and became law by a vote of 20 to 15, with one Democrat also opposed.

The counties are also opposing HB23-1100, a bill that prohibits local governments from entering into intergovernmental agreements with ICE or another federal agency to circumvent the law. The law was passed after nearby Teller County, which is not involved in the lawsuit, entered into a 287(g) agreement with ICE to hold migrants in custody there. A Colorado appeals court ruled that the practice was illegal under state law.

“Even before we decided to sue, we were encouraging Denver to think about what they could bring to our area,” Geitner told Fox News Digital. “It’s a huge problem. We’ve been watching this escalate and we’ve been sounding the alarm for a couple of years.”

Authorities in Aurora, a city nine miles east of Douglas County, previously told Fox News Digital that the notorious Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua has gained a strong foothold in the community, turning “entire apartment complexes over to gang control.”

Days later, footage emerged showing armed gang members entering an apartment complex in Aurora, just before the shooting in the parking lot.

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Photos from a CBP intelligence bulletin show Tren De Aragua’s tattoos and identification.

“Parts of the city are completely under the control of this gang. The local media is downplaying it,” said Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky. “I think politics are being played with people’s lives. … Nothing is being done to help the American citizens who are trapped under the control of this gang.”

The handful of red counties suing Colorado do not share the sanctuary city policies that have brought more than 40,000 migrants to Denver, and several have enacted their own laws to block their migrant populations from expanding. Douglas County, for example, has banned irregular bus stops in its community, threatening each bus with a fine of up to $1,000.

“We just don’t think it makes sense for a law enforcement agency to not have the ability to work with other law enforcement agencies and at the same time have limitations on our ability to work with immigration,” El Paso County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf said of his county’s decision to join the lawsuit.

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Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang have taken over an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, and are collecting rent in exchange for “protection.” (Edward Romero/Council Member Danielle Jurinsky)

“It’s been decades and decades of working with them to help make the community safer. Then this law was passed and it just doesn’t make sense to us – we don’t think it’s right.”

VanderWerf told Fox News Digital that in one case, a man arrested on probable cause charges of child molestation turned out to be an illegal immigrant.

“They would communicate with ICE beforehand, and ICE would issue a detainer order. Then we would hold the individual until ICE could come to our jail and pick them up,” VanderWerf said.

“Instead, (the person) went to a hearing and a judge set bail. The person paid bail and was then released. They disappeared. We have no idea where this person is. This person has not made any further contact with law enforcement.”

Geitner told Fox News Digital that while it’s “frustrating” to see Aurora’s gang problem in national headlines after years of warning Denver about the consequences, it’s “reassuring” that people are being shown “what’s going on.”

Authorities said Aurora, which has a population of about 390,000, has become the base of the Tren de Aragua gang in Colorado. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

“Local media don’t want to cover a lot of things that are happening (with migrant crime),” she said. “We have local media that still don’t see the problems that have been created.

“It’s incredibly frustrating to be in a state where our state government is completely ignoring reality. We’ve been telling our state government that this is very problematic. I hope they take notice. I don’t have a lot of trust. We see that the leaders in our state don’t want to accept reality.”

“People need to know what’s going on, they need to know the impacts of these policies. We’re asking our states, we’re asking our federal government, fix the border, fix the problem,” Geitner said, adding that she “never thought we’d be having this discussion about the impacts of an open border in our community” when she took office in 2018.

Democratic Gov. Jared Polis could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit.

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Chris Swecker, former boss FBI Criminal Investigations Divisionpreviously told Fox News Digital that the influx of gang members is “predictable and preventable” and that federal law enforcement agencies will be needed to combat it.

“This is where federal agencies need to get involved,” he added. “The bureau needs to get involved with ATF and DEA, share their intelligence and treat this as a transnational crime problem.”