CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — As the Trump administration ramps up immigration restrictions and its mass deportation plan, fear has ramped up in immigrant communities.
Law enforcement around the Denver metro worry that fear will silence undocumented immigrants who are witnesses or victims of crimes.
District Attorney George Brauchler, a Republican, leads the new 23rd Judicial District, which covers Lincoln, Elbert and Douglas counties. He spoke with Denver7 on Wednesday about his concerns.
“What I don't want to see is there become such a fervor and zealousness for, ‘Let's just kick them all out. We're just here to kick them all out,’ that all of a sudden, we've created a less safe environment because people will not come forward and cooperate,” he explained.
Brauchler supports a bill introduced last month that would allow for more cooperation between Colorado local leaders and law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But he said he only wants to target and prosecute people who commit crimes.
“I don't enforce immigration law,” he said. “That's not my job. I don't work with ICE in that way. I'm here to enforce the state criminal code.
“If someone is a victim of a crime, even if they're here illegally, you have my full attention and you have my full resources to try to bring you some kind of justice. That's going to happen.”
In order to make that easier, Brauchler suggested Congress increase the number of U visas available for immigrants. U visas allow victims of certain crimes to stay and work in the U.S. for a period of time, but only 10,000 are granted in a calendar year.
On a local level, Brauchler said there needs to be more trust and communication between the immigrant community and his office, as well as law enforcement in general.
“I don't want the message to the affected community to be, ‘We’re out there looking for you and we're going to get you.’ That's only true if you're a criminal. If you're a criminal, we're coming for you. That is true,” he said. “I think there needs to be more face-to-face outreach… Trying to find organizations, whether they're NGOs [non-government organizations] or something else, that operate in these vulnerable communities, and get out there and meet them face to face… I think that's the only way to do it.”
Coincidentally, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain did that community outreach Wednesday night. He spoke with and answered questions from the immigrant community at a Know Your Rights event at Mountain View United Church in Aurora.
The nonprofit African Leadership Group hosted the event, which featured Spanish and French translations of the speakers.
“What we don't do is enforce immigration laws,” Chamberlain told the crowd of a few dozen people. “That is not our role. Our role is to make sure that people are safe and that people who have been victimized feel safe enough to come to the police."
Chamberlain credits the victims who came forward after they were allegedly kidnapped and tortured at the Edge of Lowry apartments in December 2024 by members of their own Venezuelan community. Suspects arrested after that incident have been tied to the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), according to ICE.
“Only because the immigrants who were the ones that were victimized had the courage to come forward to law enforcement did we know that that was occurring,” Chamberlain said. “Because of their courage, their victimization was stopped.
“We are here to serve you. It doesn't matter your status. Again, we are not here to get people just based on their immigration status. We are here to serve you and to help you.”
Attendees at the Know Your Rights event also picked up flyers explaining their legal rights when being approached or detained by federal agents. Explaining those rights is something Brauchler said he and his office won’t do.
“I want people to cooperate with law enforcement, but I'm also a defender of the Constitution, and the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth and Eighth Amendments apply to mostly what we do here in the criminal justice world,” he said. “I defend those rights, and I do not seek to violate them, but my job isn't to advise people how to beat the system.”
Brauchler added he believes Colorado’s immigration laws do more to protect immigrants who are defendants accused of committing a crime, rather than protecting immigrants who are the victims of a crime.
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