Venezuelan gangs are far from a ‘fake’ problem, Colorado DA says: ‘Giant issue’
A Colorado district attorney is arguing that those who are trying to dismiss the issue of Venezuelan gangs in the state have been taking an “ignorance-is-bliss approach to the law.”
“There were the two extreme positions. One was, ‘Hey, they’d taken over the city’… then you’d have the people on the far left in the mainstream media saying ‘there’s no such thing as a country of Venezuela. Venezuelans don’t exist. It’s all made up. It’s a figment of your imagination,’” Colorado’s 23rd Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler told Fox News Digital.
“The truth is, Venezuelan gangs did take over the running of about 2 to 3 different apartment complexes… so to suggest that this isn’t an issue is fake. It is a giant issue. It is a growing issue. And this sort of ignorance is bliss approach to the law.”
The comments come as Colorado has recently entered the national spotlight as a result of the state’s sanctuary laws, which have limited local jurisdictions from being able to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
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The issue became even more controversial in the last few months after reports of the spread of the violent Venezuelan immigrant gang Tren de Aragua, which had taken over multiple apartment complexes in the Colorado city of Aurora.
The state was further highlighted in Wednesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, when Denver Mayor Mike Johnston was grilled by lawmakers over his city’s lack of cooperation with federal authorities.
“The illegal immigrant gang Tren de Aragua targeted Denver to be their American HQ because of weak immigration laws,” Republican Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans told Fox News Digital after the hearing.
For his part, Brauchler argued that Johnston’s answers during the hearing were just an attempt to “deflect” the conversation from the overall issue.
“My sense of those answers, though, were intended to deflect from the underlying and key question here. And that is, can a city, should a state stick itself between illegal aliens and the federal law? And the answer is a very obvious and easy no,” he told Fox News Digital.
Despite that “obvious answer,” Brauchler told Fox News Digital that Colorado’s Democratic-controlled government has doubled down on sanctuary policies.
“Starting in 2018, Colorado became awash in blue, and the legislature and the governorship have been controlled by the Democrats since then, and they have done everything they can to make Colorado a sanctuary state,” he said. “One of the laws that our state legislature passed fully embraced by Denver is to make our courthouses sanctuaries for illegal immigrants. They ban the enforcement of any immigration laws inside those courthouses.”
Brauchler said similar legislation is currently in the works, this time banning immigration enforcement on the way to and from the courthouse as well.
“Can you imagine any city or state creating barriers that say, ‘I’m sorry, local law enforcement, you can’t communicate with the FBI about a fugitive you can’t communicate with.’ Heck, the IRS about a tax cheat…. you can’t communicate with the DEA about known drug dealers? It is only with illegal immigrants that there seems to be this sense of creating these municipal and statewide barriers to law enforcement,” he said.
Nevertheless, Brauchler said he is committed to fighting back against the policies in order to make residents of the state safer.
“If you’re an illegal immigrant, and you’re here in this jurisdiction, get legal. If you can’t or won’t get legal, then be on your best behavior,” he said. “Because once you violate our laws, do not expect me to come to your rescue and figure out a way to keep you at a place that says you shouldn’t be here to begin with.”