AURORA | After reporting that Aurora was expected to be a target for an immigration operation Thursday, NBC News is now reporting that the effort has been postponed by federal officials because of media leaks.
Requests by the Sentinel for clarification from three federal agencies were unanswered or declined by Wednesday afternoon.
“The agency temporarily called off the operation due to media leaks, NBC reported, citing two sources familiar with the planning,” NBC News reported online Wednesday. “One of the sources told NBC that the leaks posed an operational security risk for officers.”
Officials with Gov. Jared Polis’ office told the Sentinel Wednesday they had not received any notice about any federal operations in the state.
“Colorado has no information about this rumored operation in Aurora at this time,” said Shelby Weiman, press secretary for Gov. Polis.
Aurora Democratic Congressperson Jason Crow said the Trump initiative is off base.
“Law enforcement should be targeting violent criminals, not raiding churches and schools to target families,” Crow said. “Aurora is one of the most diverse districts in the country. Immigrants live here, work, and pay taxes in our community. They are our neighbors, own small businesses, and go to school with our children. Surely we can fix our broken immigration system while having a humane and orderly immigration policy that does not target families and children.”
Federal and local Space Force officials said Wednesday that Buckley Space Force Base would be the site of an immigrant holding program to be operated by the Department of Homeland Security.
That news angered immigrant rights groups in the region.
“The Administration’s announcement it will utilize Buckley (Spaceforce) Base is an affront to our Constitution and an insult to the commitment service members have made to protect it,” Colorado Rapid Response Network said in a statement.
The project will “enable U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stage and process criminal aliens within the U.S. for an operation taking place in Colorado,” according to a statement issued by Buckley officials. “Military personnel are not involved in this operation.”
Trump administration officials have not said anything publicly about imminent raids in or near Aurora.
Aurora city officials addressing the news about looming immigrant raids said that local law enforcement is not involved in planning or executing the Aurora DHS operation.
“We are not involved in the development and activation of such plans,” Aurora spokesperson Ryan Luby said in a statement. “As we have said numerous times previously, Colorado state law prohibits local governments from engaging in typical immigration-specific enforcement or detention. We focus on enforcing state and local law.”
The city added that while it will cooperate with federal partners as required by law, its role remains limited under state restrictions.
“As we always have, we will work with our federal partners and follow federal law and directives as they apply to our community and as we are allowed. We will always follow state and federal law,” Luby said in the statement.
Aurora Public Schools officials have sent letters to parents explaining how schools would handle encounters with immigration officials.
Aurora Public Schools told parents in a letter sent home with students Wednesday that families should be prepared in case of any type of immigration enforcement, inside or out of school.
“School leaders will follow clear procedures to protect students and their information. We will contact our legal office and follow the proper legal steps before sharing any information. Immigration officers would only be allowed in a school building if they have a judicial warrant. Parents and guardians will be informed if any requests are made regarding their child. Please know that school staff do not know students’ immigration status and we would never ask for their immigration status,” the letter states.
Cherry Creek School District officials said they were committed to ensuring a safe and inclusive environment for students amid potential uncertainty.
“We continue to have conversations with local, state and federal agencies and partners as we plan for a variety of scenarios that could impact our students, staff and community,” Lauren Snell, public information officer for Cherry Creek Public Schools, said in a statement. “As a public education institution, we remain fully committed to do everything we can to ensure our students and schools are safe and welcoming spaces and that all students have equal access to quality education.”
Immigration rights organizations in the region said the news of operations is divisive and causing dangerous fear across several communities.
“Reports of planned ICE raids in Aurora targeting immigrants under the guise of public safety are deeply alarming,” officials from the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition said in a statement. “These operations are not about safety — they are about criminalizing immigrants, tearing families apart, and fueling the private prison industry’s profits at the expense of human suffering.”
Other Aurora immigrant news spread from New York on Tuesday.
An operation in the the New York City Bronx early Tuesday snared Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, who authorities said was one of several men, including members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, who entered an apartment in Aurora last summer and were recorded on a widely viewed video. Several of the suspects were previously arrested in Colorado and New York.
The incident caught President Donald Trump’s attention during the presidential campaign, and he announced a plan called “Operation Aurora” to target migrant gangs. The video led Trump to claim that Aurora had been taken over by the gang, which city officials denied.
In an arrest warrant, Aurora police said Zambrano-Pacheco was also wanted in a kidnapping in which at least 20 armed men abducted and threatened two people in late June. In addition, police said Zambrano-Pacheco was with a group of armed men before a shooting occurred shortly after the apartment incident that was caught on video.
Two arrest warrants accused Zambrano-Pacheco of kidnapping, burglary and felony menacing. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer or if he was a member of Tren de Aragua.
Local and federal authorities, including Aurora police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investigated the apartment incident for months beginning when Joe Biden was still president.
DEA agents rush into a vacant building on the 6600 block of Federal Boulevard in Adams County early Jan. 26 as part of a drug raid officials say involved “dozens” of members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
DEA officials said the raid came after months of investigation and was not part of a new direction in enforcement dictated by the Trump administration.
DEA agents, working with unnamed local police officials, ATF agents and Homeland Security officials said the gathering was an “invite-only” event, and that guns and illegal drugs were confiscated during the arrest, according to the social media post.
On Saturday, hundreds of protesters turned out to Aurora’s Fletcher Plaza on a cold and snowy Jday to rally against Trump administration threats of mass deportations.
The rally drew as many as 700 immigrants, activists and allies determined to challenge national and local anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies affecting Aurora’s diverse population.
“When we stand together organized in resistance, we can break the machine of fear and greed that these billionaires are building,” said Moira Casado Cassidy. “The world that we actually deserve is possible.”
“Aurora Democratic Congressperson Jason Crow said the Trump initiative is off base.” Actually, it is on base.