Aurora, Colorado, has become ground zero for what happens when a botched immigration policy collides with local mismanagement. What was once a quiet Denver suburb has descended into chaos, thanks to the arrival of Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan prison gang that’s turned dilapidated apartment buildings into their criminal headquarters. We’re talking open drug deals, gang shootings, and brazen criminals brandishing guns like it’s the Wild West.
It all started when migrants, mostly from Venezuela, poured into nearby Denver—a sanctuary city that’s taken in over 42,000 migrants since 2022. Aurora officials, claiming they wouldn’t support asylum seekers, soon found their city overrun with gang members who set up shop in rundown complexes like The Edge at Lowry, terrorizing residents like Jessica Montenegro. She and her family had to flee after a man with a gun tried to barge into their apartment. Gunshots at night, fights, and trashed apartment buildings became the norm, with even the police unable to keep up with the crime surge.
But the local authorities’ response? Weak at best. For weeks, they brushed off the growing violence, downplaying the presence of Tren de Aragua as a one-off issue. It wasn’t until The Post exposed that one of the gang’s leaders, “Cookie” Pacheco-Chirinos, was running operations out of Aurora that officials finally admitted they had a full-blown crisis on their hands. Arrests were made, but the damage was already done—gang members had already embedded themselves deep within the community.
Montenegro’s old apartment complex is now infamous for its bullet-riddled cars, roach infestations, and lawlessness. The city has shuttered two apartment buildings, but that’s just slapping a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. With police unresponsive, residents feel abandoned. One neighbor of Montenegro’s called the cops 20 times in just a couple of months about gunfire and gang activity, but Aurora PD didn’t even bother showing up.
Jessica Montenegro & her husband swept up their kids & fled an apt complex in Aurora, CO after a man w/ a gun in his waistband knocked on the door.
Months after they left, a viral video showed alleged armed Tren de Aragua gangsters try to break their way into their old unit. pic.twitter.com/cpXEw9NamW
— Jennie Taer 🎗️ (@JennieSTaer) September 12, 2024
Meanwhile, the sheriff’s department has made some headway, busting gang members and seizing drugs, but it’s hardly enough. And let’s not forget, these aren’t just isolated incidents—this violence is spilling over into neighboring Denver and beyond. Yet somehow, officials in Aurora are still in denial about the magnitude of the problem.
Aurora PD arrests 10 members of Tren de Aragua in connection with apartment building takeovers: statement https://t.co/mItAUs64JB
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 11, 2024
Former President Trump wasted no time bringing this up in the debate, shining a national spotlight on Aurora’s nightmare. And why shouldn’t he? This is the inevitable result of the Biden-Harris administration’s failed immigration policies. The wave of migrants overwhelming the system has brought violent gangs with them, and now cities like Aurora are paying the price.
REPORT – Illegal Alien Gangs Take Control Of Several Parts Of Denver Colorado.
Authorities Have Warned That Tren De Aragua, A Gang Of illegal Aliens From Venezuela, Has Reportedly Taken Control Of Parts Of Aurora, Colorado. #SecureTheBorder #MAGA2024 #IFBAP pic.twitter.com/wLjWcUKXFX— TxHoneyBeee (@TexasHunnyB) September 4, 2024
Aurora’s new police chief has their work cut out for them. It’s time for real leadership, not just empty promises and minimizing the problem. The people of Aurora deserve better than to live in fear while gangs overrun their city. This isn’t just a local issue—it’s a cautionary tale of what happens when border policy collapses, leaving communities to fend for themselves.
