“This is not an immigration problem”

The police chief in Aurora, Colorado, was angered by the fact that he described the city’s problems as an “immigration problem” as he denied that the city had been “taken over by Venezuelan gangs.”

Under Vice President Kamala Harris’s tenure as “border czar,” every city has become a border town threatened by the lawlessness of unchecked criminal aliens pouring into the country. At a press conference on Friday, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain appeared to downplay the severity of the crisis, claiming that no recent arrests have been made with ties to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua prison gang.

“Many of the individuals we’re talking about come from a country that doesn’t have strong ties to the United States, come from a country that doesn’t have a database that they’re going to share or have shared,” Chamberlain explained.

“So it was quite a task to identify these real individuals as members of the TdA gang,” he continued, while an APD message on X said: “At this time, none of the six men have any ties to any organized criminal organization.”

PRESS RELEASE: Aurora police announced Friday that they have identified and obtained arrest warrants for three men involved in the Aug. 18 shooting near 12th Avenue and Dallas Street who appeared in a surveillance video that garnered international media attention last month.… photo.twitter.com/vKBHgk0h9c

— Aurora Police Department (@AuroraPD) September 20, 2024

The police statement detailed how arrest warrants had been served on three men involved in an Aug. 18 shooting and were also reportedly seen in surveillance footage that put Aurora in the spotlight after the gang reportedly took over an apartment complex.

Naudi Lopez-Fernandez, 21, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and threatening with a firearm. Police were actively searching for Andersen Zambrano-Pacheco, 25, and Niefred Serpa-Acosta, 20.

“The Aurora Police Department targets criminals based on their actions and not their immigration status. Immigration status is enforced by federal law, by federal issues,” the chief said emphatically.

During the conference, Fox News’ Alicia Acuna asked about the gangs “taking over” the city and was told, “I can tell you right now that gangs do not control the city of Aurora. If you walk away with something, I’ll tell you. Are there gangs in the city of Aurora? Yes. There are. Are there gangs in most major cities in the United States? 100%. What we’re doing now is effectively addressing and stopping that gang activity.”

Chamberlain argued, “Like most major cities, Aurora has crime problems and gang activity. If you look at any major city, those two things are there. But we are certainly not overwhelmed by that problem, we are certainly not overtaken by Venezuelan gangs, TdA or any other gang.”

The chief also insisted, “This is not an immigration problem. It’s a crime problem.”

“That’s for the federal (government). The immigration aspect is for the federal government, it’s what they’re focused on. It’s what they’ve done,” he said. “It’s what comes out of the federal government. It comes out of the White House.”

In her own statement to Fox News Digital, Aurora City Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky agreed that “immigration is the federal government’s job, and that’s why we need help.”

“Our ICE detention facility is filling up, now what? Venezuela can’t just decide after emptying their prisons that they’re not going to take anyone back. The federal government needs to come up with a plan,” she added.

Meanwhile, in places like Aurora and Springfield, Ohio, the problems were big enough to warrant a visit from former President Donald Trump. At a rally in New York, he announced that he was prepared to see for himself the problems caused by Harris and President Joe Biden’s open border policies.

“I’m going to Springfield and I’m going to Aurora,” he told his supporters. “You may never see me again, but that’s okay. I gotta do what I gotta do. What happened to Trump? Well, he never left Springfield.”

You can watch the full APD press conference below via their YouTube channel:

Staff Writer

Kevin Haggerty, born in Brooklyn, NY, is a graduate of Hunter College, where he studied cultural anthropology and geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently lives in Texas with his wife and their dog. When he is not researching current events and their impact, he is spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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