https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.denverpost.com/2025/03/13/ice-denver-immigration-raids-colorado-donald-trump/amp/
Federal law enforcement officers detain two men during an immigration enforcement operation at the Cedar Run Apartments on South Oneida Street in Denver on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. ICE raids were conducted at multiple apartment buildings across the metro area. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
The federal government says it’s ramping up immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s crackdown, but the extent of activity in the Denver area has been unclear — with little arrest data available yet.
A lack of transparency by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement so far is making it difficult to determine the size and scope of activities taking place locally, including no official confirmation yet of the number of arrests in a series of raids in early February that drew wide attention. The Denver ICE office’s recent posts on social media, however, have provided a glimpse into more than a dozen recent arrests of immigrants without proper legal status.
The promoted arrests largely have been of people with criminal pasts. On the social platform X, ICE’s Denver field office, which covers Colorado and Wyoming, has cited criminal accusations against people arrested in February and March that include sexual assault on a child, obstruction, gun and drug smuggling, and trespassing. The people were from Guatemala, Venezuela, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras.
Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., heatedly discussed one such arrest during last week’s hearing by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that featured testimony by Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and three other mayors of so-called “sanctuary” cities.
Johnston and GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio sparred about details tied to Abraham Gonzalez. The 23-year-old “suspected (Tren de Aragua) gang member” was arrested by six federal officers after a brief chase and scuffle outside a Denver jail upon his release on Feb. 28, according to an X post by Denver ICE on March 3.
Jordan listed a litany of criminal allegations against Gonzalez, including an arrest on a charge of aggravated assault. He said Gonzalez also assaulted an officer during last month’s ICE apprehension, though the specifics of the incident remain unclear.