Mayor Mike Coffman of Aurora, Colorado, attributed the rise of criminal gang activity in certain parts of his city to the Biden-Harris administration’s border policies.

He specifically pointed to the federal government’s decision, along with nonprofit organizations, to house a large number of Venezuelan migrants in low-income apartments, which he believes contributed to the issue.

“The city of Aurora took a position early on that we were not going to participate in the migrant crisis. We were not going to provide taxpayer support, and we were not even going to be a conduit for federal dollars to come in to provide assistance,” Coffman said.

While emphasizing that the problem is limited to specific areas, Coffman expressed concern over its impact on his otherwise safe community.

“This is not our problem; this is a problem created by the federal government at the border with bad policy. So, the federal government needs to solve this problem, not the city of Aurora. These people did not go there on their own; somebody put them there.”  

Coffman expressed he hopes authorities can remove the gang members from the apartment complex without uprooting the residents who live there.

“You have an enemy that is inside a population that is intimidated by them. And so, the challenge is getting people to cooperate to identify them” and using film footage to identify them and “get them out.”

“Venezuela, unfortunately, is a failed state under a socialist dictator, and people are leaving. I think about one-third of the population has left,” he continued. “Unlike immigration we’ve had in the past, in our Venezuelan community that has been here, where they had sponsors, where they had family members, they had resources, and they were educated,” the city is now getting people who “poured over the border.”