Aurora nonprofit helping immigrants hopes negative views of city will end

AURORA, Colo. — A group helping support new immigrants arriving to Colorado said Thursday the recent negative spotlight in Aurora is taking away the focus from their efforts to help newcomers from all around the world.

The Aurora Economic Opportunity Center (AEOC), which has been around for nine years, continues providing support to new-to-country folks, despite some of the challenges that inflated news stories about gang activity in Aurora have caused.

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"We're more diverse than probably anywhere else in the whole country," said Mateos Alvarez, the Executive Director for AEOC.

That's one of the many reasons Alvarez said he believes makes Aurora unique.

"There's over 120 different languages, customs that exist in a small area, and therefore it is a gateway, or an entryway, for people from all over the world who come to the United States, (who) come here to Aurora and feel connected," added Alvarez.

He said the negativity surrounding the city has diverted the attention from their mission of helping immigrants with work authorization and jobs.

"For us, we're hopeful that the rhetoric will change and it'll be more about like, 'How do you provide opportunities for folks to be self sufficient, successful,' and where they can contribute back into the community," he said.

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Denver7 spoke with Luis Meza, a recently-arrived immigrant from Colombia who said his main focus has been getting a job.

“We want work. We don’t want handouts, we want a job opportunity," Meza said, in Spanish. “You have to have faith things will get better."

Alvarez said they have assisted hundreds of new immigrants with work authorization and jobs, as well as helping those who are interested in starting their own businesses.

"I've never run into a human being who doesn't want prosperity, who wants to be independent and who wants that opportunity to be successful," he added.

Former President Donald Trump, who has falsely claimed Aurora is being "taken over" by gangs and who promised "large deportations" of immigrants from the city if he is re-elected later this year, said Wednesday he will visit Aurora "in the next two weeks."

Aurora city leaders told Denver7 Thursday they hope the former president's visit will help change the narrative that Aurora is a dangerous place to live.

One of those leaders, Mayor Mike Coffman told Denver7 he hopes a potential Trump visit would help change the false narrative that Venezuelan gangs had taken over the city.

Watch Denver7's full interview with Coffman in the video player below.

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