DENVER — Heavily armed federal agents raided apartment buildings across metro Denver early Wednesday in a search for Venezuelan gang members and other migrants under the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort targeting major cities.
At least two dozen officers carrying high-powered weapons stormed several complexes before sunrise. In some cases, they were backed by large, military-style vehicles.
The Department of Homeland Security said on social media that it was targeting 100 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua for arrest and detention. It did not say how many people were taken into custody.
The operation included officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The administration has said that its main targets are convicted criminals but that noncriminals could also be detained during raids.
Witnesses said that they were caught off-guard by the agents descending on their homes and that many hid in their apartments, afraid federal agents would barge in. Many refused to answer their doors when officers knocked.
At an apartment complex in Denver, a 31-year-old Venezuelan man said that shortly after 5 a.m., ICE agents and other federal officers began yelling and loudly banging on every door.
The man, who asked that his name be withheld because he was afraid of being deported, said residents discreetly peered out their windows as large trucks and unmarked vehicles entered the parking lot.
Several residents said eight people were arrested at the complex.
People “hid with fear,” “didn’t open their doors” and remained “quiet without saying anything,” he said after all the agents had left.
He said many of his neighbors have pending asylum applications or other forms of temporary protection from deportation, “but none of that matters to them,” referring to immigration authorities.
“We don’t know if even with having an asylum case, they’ll just take us and deport us,” he said. “We’re living with fear and uncertainty because we don’t know if they’ll come back for us.”
Mayor Mike Johnston said in a statement that he was aware an immigration enforcement action was taking place at a Denver apartment complex.
“We are in contact with Denver Public Schools and other city partners and have confirmed that there has not been any activity in schools, hospitals, or churches,” Johnston said. “Denver Police and city authorities were not involved in these actions, nor were we given prior notice. We will continue to monitor these activities throughout the day.”
A Colombian immigrant at the Cedar Run apartment complex, one of three that was raided in nearby Aurora, said he was leaving the building around 7 a.m. to take his daughter to school when he saw a large number of federal agents surrounding the building.
He immediately turned around and went back upstairs to his apartment. Federal agents walked the hallways of the building for several hours, repeatedly knocking loudly on doors, identifying themselves as “immigration” and asking people to come outside.
The immigrant and his family opted to remain silent and not open their door.
“It sounded like they were knocking on every door in our hallway, but nobody opened,” said the man, who asked that his named not be used because he feared retaliation from federal authorities. He lives with his wife and daughters. “We just stayed inside and stayed quiet.”
Carlos Rodriguez, a Venezuelan immigrant who previously lived at the Edge at Lowry apartments, where a viral video was recorded last year showing armed men, allegedly Tren de Aragua gang members, going door to door, said the raids have made him reconsider his desire to live in the United States.
“I want to go back to Venezuela, I really do,” he said. “I don’t feel safe going out in the street anymore.”
The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, which is part of a rapid response network of local advocates that sends legal observers and advisers to ICE operations, had volunteers present at the Cedar Run apartments.
Raquel Lane-Arellano, the group’s communications manager, said that legal observers repeatedly asked agents to show a search or arrest warrant but that none was provided. The observers saw agents numbering in the dozens and a bus to transport arrestees on the scene, but they saw only a handful of arrests, she said.
The people who were apprehended and spoke to legal observers on the scene identified themselves as coming from several countries, including some in Africa, Lane-Arellano said, adding that it raised questions about ICE’s stated intention to target Tren de Aragua members from Venezuela.
“There’s this allegation of gang affiliation, but there are no criminal charges that we’ve seen,” she said. “It’s really just an immigration raid with loose allegations that are seemingly unsupported.”
At another complex in Aurora, agents arrived when it was still dark and knocked on all the doors as terrified migrants hid inside their homes, said a 37-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker, who asked that his name not be used because he feared deportation.
“We didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “They knocked so hard they could have broken down the doors.”
He said that no one opened their front doors and that he did not know whether agents were targeting criminals or looking for specific people. He said he was not aware of anyone on his floor’s being arrested.
“We are not criminals,” he said, adding he had heard that ICE was also “taking people with papers.”
The Venezuelan man said he has an asylum case pending in the United States, based on political persecution in his home country.
“I cannot go back,” he said.
At the same building, a 22-year-old Venezuelan migrant reiterated that officers knocked loudly on all the doors and that “people didn’t open them out of fear.”
The man, who also asked that his name be withheld, said he has an open asylum case but is afraid he could be deported anyway.
At another apartment complex in Aurora, a Venezuelan migrant said officers knocked on doors in the early morning but not his.
The man, who asked that his name and age not be used because he feared deportation, said he had planned to leave his apartment Wednesday but decided to stay home after he heard ICE was going around and “taking some of my neighbors.”
He said he hid in his room and was too afraid to peek outside to see what was happening.
Hours after the raids, residents could be seen rushing away from their complexes. Several residents ducked around corners and quietly went in and out of their units to avoid being noticed.
“ICE is looking for everyone,” the 22-year-old Venezuelan said. “They’re also looking for people who are helping the United States, working hard.”
Deon J. Hampton and David Noriega reported from Colorado and Daniella Silva from New York City.
