Left: An undercover FBI agent communicates during a federal gang raid at Cedar Run Apartments in Denver, Feb. 5, 2025 — part of a crackdown targeting violent criminal groups. Right: Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., a former police officer and the only Latino member of Colorado's congressional delegation, speaks out against sanctuary policies he says are fueling violence in Hispanic communities. (Shane Anthony for Fox News and RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Tren de Aragua — also known by its acronym "TdA" — is a violent Venezuelan criminal group that has been linked to some of the most high-profile crimes in America in recent years, including the murder of nursing student Laken Riley and the capturing of an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Evans, a young Latino and former police officer who represents a district just north of Denver, further confirmed that sanctuary policies in his district are wreaking havoc on both Hispanic lives and businesses.
"In my district, we had one of the first big raids that we saw of the new administration, where over 40 Tren de Aragua gang members and their affiliates were all apprehended by the DEA working in conjunction with other agencies," he said. "We're talking guns and drugs and human trafficking and child abuse … these are the people that have been festering in our society under the sanctuary state policies in Colorado."
As the only Latino member of the Colorado delegation in Congress, Evans said the sanctuary policies are personal.
TRUMP'S ICE ROUNDS UP HUNDREDS OF DANGEROUS CRIMINAL IMMIGRANTS IN DENVER SWEEP
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden shown side-by-side. Latino voters in Democratic-run sanctuary jurisdictions are pushing back says a Hispanic Republican, noting crime problems under the Biden administration's approach to immigration enforcement. (Win McNamee/Pool via REUTERS, Getty Images)
"There was nothing that state or local law enforcement could do because they were prohibited by these sanctuary laws and the feds weren't interested. So, he watched thousands of dollars of merchandise walk out of his store on a weekly, sometimes a daily basis as a direct result of these policies. That hurts him. That hurts the Hispanic community."
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"We don't want drug dealers and cartels and criminals and gangbangers in our community," he went on. "So, this emphasis on cracking down on these criminal elements who are not only illegally present in the United States but are committing other crimes is long overdue, and there's a lot of support for that in the Hispanic community."
Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Denver Mayor Mike Johnston for comment but did not receive a response by time of publication.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-sanctuary-policies-shield-gangbangers-harm-latino-families-businesses-says-hispanic-gop-lawmaker