Aurora, CO – December 20th, 2024 – In a display of cruelty, Aurora Police Department (APD) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted what appears to be an indiscriminate raid at The Edge at Lowry apartments on Tuesday, December 17th. They detained dozens of people for hours on end in the cold, and left behind a trail of family separation, fear and devastation.
The Colorado Rapid Response Network responded to reports of ICE activity and interviewed dozens of residents. Based on documenting at the scene and eye-witness accounts, APD conducted mass prolonged detentions of dozens of people, including minors, without official arrests. It’s unclear why APD released some people back to their while transferring custody of at least five, who have no criminal charges, directly to ICE. No warrants for anyone’s detention or arrest were shown on scene despite repeated requests by observers and residents to see a warrant. This appears to be a direct violation of state law as well as people’s civil rights.
This is the latest in a series of raids by APD at apartment complexes named by Councilwoman Jurinsky and President elect Trump. The actions disproportionately target immigrant majority neighborhoods, and trap people in immigration detention without recourse, leaving children without parents, businesses without workers, and communities without trust in local institutions to protect them. The impacts of this action will reverberate throughout our community:
- Emotional and psychological trauma: During the operation, APD handcuffed all of the residents, including minors, and kept people outside in their pajamas in 28o F weather from approximately 3am to 4:30am. Officers separated minors from their parents by placing them in separate patrol cars, despite requests by parents that an adult be present. People were not provided food, water or restrooms for many hours and were forced to urinate on the seats of the patrol cars and then sit in their own urine. Children and families left behind face immense mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
- Economic harm: Detaining breadwinners devastates household stability, leading to housing and food insecurity and harming local economies. Every family at The Edge is paying rent and deserves dignified housing. Those detained unnecessarily by ICE will face many months of detention before their final hearing.
- Public safety risks: ICE’s presence at these operations erodes trust in law enforcement, making it less likely that immigrants will report crimes or cooperate with investigations.
“We came here fleeing injustice. Our loved ones have followed every process asked of them by immigration – check-ins, applying for work permits, for TPS, for asylum. I have paid my rent every month only to live in unimaginable squalor and to be treated as less than by the property, the city, the police. I never imagined my adult child, who has never been in jail, would be forced behind bars in this way; that my children could be handcuffed, made to wait in the cold and separated from me, interrogated. We deserve to live in peace, to be safe, to be respected.” states A., a resident at The Edge.
“This mass raid is an escalation of a horrifying step the city is taking,” said Nate Kassa from East Colfax Community Collective. “Edge of Lowry is home to many hardworking families who have lived here for years, contributing to our city’s culture and our shared future. The hours-long detention, search and seizure, and interrogation of the majority of residents for more than 24 hours is an act of collective punishment. It doesn’t make anyone safer—it makes us weaker. ”
“To the families that have been impacted by these inhumane actions, we stand with you in solidarity and will support you as you seek justice for your loved ones. Entire communities have been left reeling in the wake of these illegal and unjustified attacks, but we will not rest until those agencies that violated your rights are held accountable.” Kayla Frawley, Organizing Director for Colorado People’s Alliance. “These actions are not just an assault on immigrant families—they are an assault on the values of justice, dignity, and humanity that our communities stand for. We know these types of scenarios play out in harassment upon our immigrant communities involving fear and displacement.”
“APD and ICE’s willingness to handcuff and interrogate minors, while separating them from their parents and ignoring their requests for a parent to be present, is a direct attack to the wellbeing of our youth and a clear violation of the laws that are meant to keep them safe. No child should have to experience this long-lasting harm. We will not stand for this injustice.” states Tania Chairez, CEO of Convivir Colorado.
“Police and ICE cooperation will never keep our communities safe. We need to stop allowing political interests to interfere with people’s lives and safety. This impacts all of us and only we keep each other safe,” states Andrea Loya, Executive Director at Casa de Paz.
“We seek safety for all families at the Edge and the entire community. Similar horrific alleged crimes to this kidnapping have been reported in affluent neighborhoods where these tactics of collective punishment and humiliation of all residents are not employed. ICE’s willingness to unnecessarily detain at least 5 people who have complied with all immigration processes and who have no criminal charges shows how little regard they have for making Aurora safe. Aurora PD and ICE’s actions are unjustifiable and do not make us safer.” states Jennifer Piper, Communications Director for the American Friends Service Committee.
“The actions of APD and ICE this week have sown fear and distrust within our immigrant community and violated the very laws meant to protect us all. Law enforcement must be held accountable for these inhumane and unlawful actions. We stand in unwavering solidarity with the families torn apart by this cruelty and demand that our leaders take immediate steps to ensure justice. Aurora’s immigrant families deserve safety, dignity, and respect—not the terror inflicted upon them in the middle of the night. Together, we will fight to rebuild trust and ensure no family has to endure such trauma again,” shared Nayda Benitez, Organizing Director at the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC).
A Call to Action
Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND, East Colfax Community Collective (EC3), Colorado People’s Alliance, Casa de Paz, Americans Friends Service Committee, Convivir Colorado, and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) are demanding an immediate halt to any more immigration raids and calling on elected officials, community leaders, and allies to condemn these inhumane actions and protect our communities.
We urge community members to stand in solidarity by:
- Contacting their elected officials to demand an end to ICE raids.
- Calling on the State of Colorado to conduct an independent investigation of Aurora PD’s collusion with ICE
- Contact Aurora City manager Jason Batchelor and urge the city of Aurora to implement a rehousing process for the Edge of Lowry tenants. As part of this process, there absolutely needs to be time for tenants to find, apply, and get approved for a different apartment. Tenants also need funding for security deposit and first month’s rent, which the city of Aurora has already agreed publicly to provide.
We must reject fear and division, and instead choose compassion and unity.
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The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) is a statewide, membership-based coalition of immigrant, faith, labor, youth, community, business and ally organizations founded in 2002 to improve the lives of immigrants and refugees by making Colorado a more welcoming, immigrant-friendly state.
Casa de Paz, based in Aurora, Colorado, welcomes recently released newcomers, Asylum seekers, and immigrants; we facilitate their next steps towards reunifications with loved ones in a dignifying way.
Colorado People’s Alliance (COPA) is a racial justice, member-led organization dedicated to advancing and winning progressive social change locally, statewide and nationally. COPA builds power to improve the lives of all Coloradans through leadership development, organizing and alliance building.
Convivir Colorado supports youth impacted by migration as they find power in their migrant experience and use it to enrich themselves and their communities. We envision a world where immigrant, refugee, and first generation American youth – from any nationality and with any immigration status – thrive in their authenticity and build a more just society for all.
The East Colfax Community Collective (EC3) is a community-driven, multicultural, socio-economically diverse advocacy organization of residents, local businesses and nonprofits, and allies. We are fighting displacement and building collective power in our community, in the East Colfax Corridor and North Aurora, to shape our own destiny and be a multicultural community where low and moderate-income residents and locally-owned businesses can thrive.
Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND) fights for housing as a human right for all, directed by those most impacted by housing insecurity. We stand by our migrant community members and their right to safe and dignified housing. Housing for all means recognizing the additional barriers faced by undocumented migrants in an already biased and corrupt housing system, and fighting to obtain systemic and legislative change.
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide, of all faiths and backgrounds, to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.