Migrant investigation: How many newcomers did Denver house in Aurora?

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AURORA, Colo. -- Aurora City council member Danielle Jurinsky, who gave an energetic speech Friday about immigration at a rally for former President Donald Trump at Gaylord Resort, wants to know who is helping migrants in Aurora and how.

Jurinsky sponsored a resolution that appears on Monday’s agenda. The resolution, if approved by council, would direct City Manager Jason Batchelor to investigate which Aurora non-profits received money from the State of Colorado or the City and County of Denver. The resolution authorizes him to use Colorado Open Records Act requests to obtain the information.

“The State of Colorado and adjacent jurisdictions to the city, such as the City and County of Denver, have intentionally placed immigrants within the city without notifying the city of this placement and consequently placing great strain in our community,” the resolution states. It notes that the state has created the “Office of New Americans” to serve as a clearinghouse for public and private organizations looking to help migrants settle in Colorado.

Several apartment buildings in Aurora have experienced gang activity, police have said, but city officials maintain the larger problem is a lack of maintenance by the landlord, CBZ Properties.

Aurora has fewer resources than Denver

“Aurora is not a county and does not have the same responsibilities and funding that a county has, and as such the city’s financial resources or other local resources are limited and offering sanctuary or support is impossible and creates risks to the health, safety, and welfare of both migrants and the residents of Aurora," the resolution states. "Nonetheless, the city has used funds from multiple sources including the city’s own funds through the years to assist non-profits that help the immigrant community seeking to improve the overall provision of services to them.”

According to the resolution, the city does not have the resources to support the migrants. “The council is concerned that placing immigrants within the city without the adequate resources to assist them is detrimental to the city, to the immigrants, and the community at large.”

Who moved in the migrants?

In an email to the author of this article, Jurinsky made her objectives for the resolution clear. "We would have no authority to tell the non profits what they can/can't do. The intent is to expose how this happened. Where did the money come from? Who were the non profits involved? What was the City of Denver and the state's role in this? How were complexes selected? What complexes did these folks go into?"

Jurinsky also wanted to know whether the units were inspected before migrants moved in. According to Jessica Prosser, the city's homeless services director, two non-profits were placing migrants in Aurora. In an email to Jurinsky, Prosser said she learned of the placements through conversations with the state Office of New Americans, the Department of Local Affairs, and the City and County of Denver’s Office of Newcomer and Migrant Support. "No housing quality inspections were completed to check for even basic life safety concerns prior to placing individuals in apartments in Aurora," Prosser wrote. "From my understanding deposit assistance was offered as well as three months of rent in some cases. This was done starting in the spring of 2023 and continued to the spring of 2024."

Aurora official: Denver placed migrants in buildings

"As of the beginning of August 2024 I was told that no additional placements were being made and there was no additional funding for this purpose," Prosser continued in the email. "Many migrants were placed in the properties that CBZ owned, according to Papagayo and (Vive) Wellness, two of the non-profits receiving state and Denver funding as pass through agencies. From conversations with Village Exchange I also believe that they received funding and were placing people in Aurora; however, they did not confirm any placements at the CBZ owned properties. The CBZ properties had lower rent, lack of consistency with providing leases, (and) more leniency with the number of people in each unit, which led to the aggregation of migrants at these properties. This information is from the residents that have been complaining about the property for over two years."

Jon Ewing, a spokesman for the City and County of Denver, said last month that migrants were not placed in the troubled CBZ buildings as part of the Denver Asylum Seekers Program. The author of the article did not ask whether migrants passing through Denver had been housed in Aurora before then, which appears to be the case.

At his rally Friday, Trump vowed to send home Aurora’s undocumented migrants along with millions of others across the country in what he is calling the largest deportation in history.