Federal enforcement operations are underway in metro Denver. Over the last few days, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement focused on other cities, notably in the East. This morning, the federal agents turned their attention to Colorado, where President Donald Trump had promised to launch “Operation Aurora,” a crackdown specifically targeting the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Here’s what we know.   

Protesters gather at state capitol building in Denver

Thousands of protestors rallying against the ICE raids in Denver and Aurora Wednesday morning, as well as President Donald Trump’s policies, gathered at the state capitol building in downtown Denver Wednesday afternoon.

People stopped traffic on Lincoln Street, briefly shutting it down. The protesters later began to march to the Denver Art Museum. 

DEA says raids are targeting “wanted drug traffickers”

The Rocky Mountain Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration said Wednesday morning that the raids conducted at the Cedar Run apartments in Denver are drug-search warrants targeting “wanted drug traffickers,” according to a social media post.

The DEA posted a picture on social media allegedly showing graffiti on a wall at the complex, one of three complexes targeted in Wednesday’s raids.

The graffiti read: “In loving memory of those lost in drug land.”

Three people have died at the complex due to fentanyl poisoning in the last month, the DEA said.

“Our goal is to save lives. Period,” the post stated.

Colorado lawmakers monitor raids, Democrats discuss resources for immigrant community

Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver, said House and Senate Democrats met to discuss what resources are available to their constituents in the immigrant community.

“We’re taking action with some of our local folks to be helpful,” Coleman said, adding that he met with Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis earlier in the day.

No raids in schools, hospitals or churches, Denver mayor says

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said Wednesday morning that he is aware of ICE presence at an apartment complex in Denver and is “in contact with Denver Public Schools and other city partners.”

“There has not been any activity in schools, hospitals or churches,” Johnston said in a statement. “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.”

Arrests unfold in Aurora

Just after 9 a.m., agents handcuffed a young Hispanic man who appeared to be in his 20s and put him into a dark colored sedan.

Residents watching from the top floor of the three-story apartment complex began yelling to him from a bullhorn.

“You have the right to remain silent, don’t sign anything, don’t open your door,” the residents yelled. “You don’t have lawful warrants.”

Violeta Chapin, an immigration attorney with CU Boulder, told The Denver Gazette earlier this week that if ICE officials have an ICE warrant signed internally, residents are not required to open their door, but a warrant signed by a judge means people must open their door.

A crush of reporters is on the scene, taking up an entire block as the arrests unfolded.

A Homeland Security armored bus arrived on scene around 9:15 a.m., with five vehicles following it — a mix of SUVs and sedans. FBI and ICE agents were also on scene wearing Kevlar vests.

Protesters gather across the street as agents knock on doors

Federal agents blocked off the road at Leetsdale Drive at the Cedar Run apartments in Denver Wednesday morning, during an immigration raid. 

People across the street are protesting the activity with a bullhorn. 

DEA agents execute warrants

The Trump administration’s Homeland Security is conducting operations in metro Denver this morning, the federal government’s anti-narcotics division based in Colorado disclosed this morning.  

“DEA RMFD serving a search warrant in support of @DHSgov operations taking place throughout the metro area this morning,” the Rocky Mountain Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration said in a post on X this morning.

The post included a video showing officers serving a warrant. One of them could be seen throwing a flash grenade in front of what appeared to be an apartment unit.  

The video did not say where the raid occurred. The post also did not specifically say that ICE raids are occurring, but it noted that the DEA is supporting Homeland Security operations.  

9NEWS crews had spotted police activity in the area of 888 South Oneida Street in Denver and near East 12th Avenue and Dallas Street in Aurora, which is the location of The Edge at Lowry apartments, according to the TV station.

9NEWS reported its crew at the Aurora apartment complex saw Homeland Security Investigations personnel on the scene. HSI is a component of ICE.

SKY9 flew over the scene on South Oneida Street briefly. A bus was visible in the parking lot of the complex with multiple law enforcement vehicles nearby.

Aurora councilmember says ICE agents are getting lay of the land

Aurora City Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky, who has been in contact with residents of several apartment complexes affected by Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), said ICE agents are “just trying to figure out who is in our city, and who is in our country.”

Jurinsky spoke with a resident of Whispering Pines apartments Wednesday morning, she said. 

“They knocked on her door, she produced her residency card, it was expired,” Jurinsky said the woman told her. “ICE told her she needed to renew it and then they went on their way.”

The woman’s husband does not have any kind of residency documentation, Jurinsky said, but agents did not ask to come inside. 

“They did not kick the door in or run into her home,” Jurinsky said. “They were polite … Right now, they just want to know who’s here.”

50 arrested earlier this month

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division earlier this month executed a search warrant in the wee hours at a “makeshift nightclub” in Adams County. Agents detained 49 individuals. Of those, 41 were unlawfully residing in the U.S., officials have said.

During a campaign stop in Aurora last fall, Trump swore to crack down on gang members illegally living in the U.S. in what he dubbed as “Operation Aurora.” Trump has also called for the death penalty for those who kill American citizens.

Under “Operation Aurora,” the federal government would expedite the removal of what Trump described as “savage gangs.”

“We are a country under tremendous distress,” Trump said. “We will send elite squads from ICE to deport every single gang member.”

Colorado’s third most populous city was thrust into the national spotlight last fall after a Venezuelan prison gang known as Tren de Aragua (TdA) took over at least two apartment complexes.

In the days since Trump was sworn in two weeks ago, ICE officials have announced on X that they have arrested and detained nearly 10,000 immigrants unlawfully in the U.S.

According to the agency’s X account, ICE agents have made arrests in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Miami and New York City.

Even in Charleston, South Carolina.

The arrests included workplace enforcement, apprehensions of TdA gang members accused of drug dealing and the detention of immigrants unlawfully living in the U.S. with previous convictions for money laundering and those with traffic offenses.

“Our first priority is arresting the worst offenders,” ICE officials said in a Jan. 31 post on X, formerly Twitter.

No arrests or raids so far have been publicly announced in Colorado.

ICE officials on Monday, though, pointed to a Jan. 30 arrest of Juan Benitez-Ortega, 48, a Mexican national in Adams County. According to ICE, Benitez was charged with felony assault, kidnapping or false imprisonment stemming from a Dec. 28 incident. 

Officials also said Benitez, who is living in the U.S. unlawfully, has a prior conviction for driving while impaired.

Typically, illegal immigration is an issue that in the past has directly impacted border states. But interior states like Colorado began to experience an influx of immigration two years ago when about 90 immigrants were dropped off at Union Station and left to wander in the cold.

Since then, Denver has welcomed nearly 43,000 immigrants, mostly from South and Central America, particularly Venezuela who arrived in the city after illegally crossing the southern border. 

9News, a partner of The Denver Gazette, contributed to this article.