'Numerous public threats' prompt ICE raid targeting multiple locations, metro Denver gang members ...Middle East

DENVER (KDVR) — There was a massive show of force Wednesday across the metro Denver region as federal agents conducted surprise operations targeting Venezuelan gang members and other undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

FOX31 began receiving calls right away from immigrant advocates saying people were being awakened to door knocking and agents asking for proof of citizenship.

Hours before sunrise, heavily armed agents in protective gear using tactical devices began a raid led by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division. Among the federal agents present for the operation was U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Caleb Vitello.

DHS said it was targeting more than 100 Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members.

Outside one apartment complex volunteers with the Colorado Rapid Response Network advised people of their rights. In a parking lot, more agents in tactical gear could be seen.

FOX31's cameras captured staging areas outside the Best Buy near South Colorado Boulevard and Interstate 25. Tactical vehicles, buses from ICE's contracted Geo Group holding facility in Aurora and armed agents gathered around.

A similar sight could be seen outside a Target store near I-25 and East Hampden Avenue.

ICE's acting director appeared in a social media video talking about the mission's objective and was also monitoring the operation remotely.

"We are here today to conduct an at-large enforcement operation here looking for Tren de Aragua, the gang members from Venezuela," Vitello said in an ICE Denver post on X. "Unfortunately, we have to come to the communities because we don't get the cooperation we need from the jails. It would be so much easier and so much safer for our agents if we could take these people into custody from a safe environment. But if we have to come out in the community that is what we are going to do."

Colorado law prevents local law enforcement from holding someone solely for the purpose of a civil immigration detainer issued by a federal agency, like ICE.

FOX31 spoke with Denver's HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Tim Lenzen.

"These actions were targeted operations focused on violent criminal aliens, TDA members and those who are a threat to our public safety. The large federal presence today was a result of numerous public threats that had been prevalent in recent months. Today's focused operation is a result of current policies that restrict ICE's ability to identify and arrest these threats in a controlled environment such as the county and city jails," Lenzen said.

The operation comes after FOX31 broke the story of armed men carrying weapons in an Aurora apartment complex last August.

ICE posted pictures of agents in command centers around the city as part of their strategy today.  ICE said many other agencies, like the DEA Rocky Mountain Division, were working in tandem on the operation.

"What we are ultimately doing is keeping the community safer. One of these apartments that we were at today experienced three fentanyl deaths in the last month alone. There's a lot of drugs coming in and out of these apartments. People are dying in there. And getting in there and removing some of these people who are selling those drugs, we are making a significant difference," DEA Rocky Mountain Division Special Agent In Charge Johnathan Pullen said.

It's not yet clear how many people were arrested Wednesday.

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