AURORA, Colo. — Leaders of nonprofit organizations in Aurora "fear chaos" after city council approved a measure Monday evening that will allow the city to investigate who provided grants to nonprofits that were used to help relocate immigrants coming from the southern border.
The proposal, brought forward by Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky and approved by Aurora City Council in a 6-2 vote, authorizes the Aurora City Attorney’s Office to submit a series of Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests to the Governor’s Office, the Colorado Office of New Americans, the Denver Mayor’s Office, and the Denver Pathways to the Integration of New Americans for any emails and contracts "related to providing assistance to immigrants in order to relocate them to the city of Aurora."
“I believe that Governor Polis and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston conspired to sneak potentially thousands of migrants into our city, using several nonprofits in the metro, that ultimately put the safety of our citizens at risk,” said Jurinsky in a statement Monday.
Read the text of the proposal submitted by Councilwoman Jurinksy below.
The move by city council is the latest in saga that has thrown Aurora into the national spotlight over the immigration debate, after a management company claimed in early August that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) had "taken over" several of their buildings — claims echoed by former President Donald Trump during the presidential debate last month — and written off as “dramatically exaggerated” by city officials, including Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman. Residents of the dilapidated buildings have also pushed back on the claims.
The takeover allegations would go viral after doorbell camera video captured six armed men entering a neighboring apartment unit at one of the troubled complexes minutes before a fatal shooting in August. Those six men, however, have not been connected to any gang, according to police. In all, Aurora police have identified 10 confirmed members of Tren de Aragua.
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"You just fear chaos for your organization"
Candice Marley, founder of the nonprofit All Souls Denver, said Monday's vote by Aurora City Council will impact them "in a big way."
"We started our organization last year when the Zuni encampment was exploding," Marley said. "Our role started really just as providing basic needs — heat, propane, blankets, tents, all the things you would need to survive outside."
Since then, Marley said the mission of the nonprofit has evolved into becoming a resource center in Denver's Five Points neighborhood that provides food, clothing, household items and baby goods for those who need them most.
Marley, whose nonprofit helps about 200 families a week, told Denver7 Tuesday that the Aurora City Council's decision to allow the city to investigate nonprofits will force them to pull back from any state and city grants.
"You fear just chaos for your organization," Marley said. "It's shocking, because we felt we were had a good relationship with Aurora City Council, and that wasn't their viewpoint, especially when it came to children and families. It's a very scary slope we're starting to go down."
Jurinsky was not available for an interview on Tuesday as she said she was traveling, but in a statement sent to Denver7, she said she hopes the CORA requests will help the people of Aurora and the city understand how many immigrants were sent to the city, whether any promises were made to them, and whether the immigrants were given background checks before they were relocated.
“I think that it’s incredibly insulting to think that Governor Polis and Mayor Mike Johnston could covertly push migrants into our city without even having the courtesy to warn us about what they were doing,” added Jurinsky.
Marley, on the other hand, said the move by city council isn't going to deter the nonprofit from their mission of helping immigrants.
On Wednesday, the nonprofit is hosting a drive-thru donation event at their center on Welton Street from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
"We've worked with them, we've seen them. They're families who are just here for a better life. You know, that was my family two generations ago," Marley said. "So we as citizens should be supporting that and helping people build their American dream."
Denver7 reached out to the City of Denver to get their take on the proposal approved by Aurora City Council. Jon Ewing, a spokesperson for the city, said in a statement that Denver stands "proudly with our immigrant community and with our nonprofit partners, whose dedication and life-saving work should be applauded, not demonized.”
The full statement is below.
Denver took what many saw as a crisis and turned it into opportunity by partnering with nonprofits to help thousands of newcomers find stability, contribute to our economy, and have the opportunity to chase the American dream. Had we turned our back, there is little doubt that many of the 43,000 people who arrived in Denver over the last two years would today be sleeping on the streets rather than in their own beds. We stand proudly with our immigrant community and with our nonprofit partners, whose dedication and life-saving work should be applauded, not demonized.
In a separate statement, a city of Denver spokesperson said, "We didn’t place newcomers in Aurora (we didn’t place newcomers anywhere) and we are always going to stand by the nonprofits who stepped up in a crisis and prevented kids from living on the streets. Newcomers looked for a place they could reasonably afford and nonprofits helped them with the first step."
In response to claims made by Councilwoman Jurinsky during Monday night's council meeting in which she alleged to be in possession of videos "that will do bigger things than bring Donald Trump to the city of Aurora," a spokesperson for the governor's office urged Jurinsky to reach out to law enforcement, adding the office had done so already.
“If the city council member is holding on to evidence of a crime, she should reach out to law enforcement immediately. The Governor’s office takes any potential for evidence of a crime very seriously and alerted state law enforcement of the council woman’s comments about potential video evidence, and they have been in touch with law enforcement," the statement read.
See the comments made by Councilwoman Jurisky in the video below.
Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky @DaniJurinsky asks Colorado Gov. Jared Polis @GovofCO to call her. She says she has video footage “that will do bigger things than bring Donald Trump to the city of Aurora.” @DenverChannel 👀 #copolitics #AuroraCO #aurora pic.twitter.com/A6akJpFkI1
— Brandon Richard (@BrandonLRichard) October 15, 2024
Denver7's Óscar Contreras contributed to this report.
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