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The Biden-Harris administration is reportedly responsible for “subsidizing” the Venezuelan gang members who’ve taken over apartment buildings in the Denver, Colorado suburb of Aurora.
According to journalist Christopher Rufo, the story starts in 2021, when the administration signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law. The bill allocated $3.8 billion to Colorado, some of which was then used by Denver to launch a criminal alien resettlement and housing program.
The story begins in 2021, when the Biden–Harris administration signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law, allocating $3.8 billion to Colorado. The City of Denver drew on this reservoir of funds to launch its migrant resettlement and housing program. pic.twitter.com/wC4NvnBfBX
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) September 10, 2024
Of that $3.8 billion, over $5 million was funneled to two leftist NGOs, ViVe Wellness and Papagayo, reportedly to secure housing for Venezuelan criminal aliens. The NGOs are run by Yoli Casas and Marielena Suarez, two Venezuelan immigrants.
Casas, who runs ViVe Wellness, can be seen and heard in the video clip below bragging about receiving oodles of taxpayer funds and then using that money to take care of illegals.
Watch:
Yoli Casas, who runs ViVe Wellness, said that the flow of government funds was so abundant, she was writing thousands of checks to pay for migrants. She claimed to have written $350,000 in checks in a single week—all heavily subsidized by taxpayers. pic.twitter.com/YMLQAkA54E
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) September 10, 2024
ViVe Wellness and Papagayo paid landlords to place criminal aliens in housing. An especially large number of contracts were signed with CBZ Management, which Rufo notes “operated the three apartment complexes in Aurora at the center of the Venezuelan takeover scandal.”
“Within six months, according to [a former CBZ employee] employee, approximately 80 percent of the residents of these buildings were Venezuelan migrants,” according to Rufo.
With their arrival came an abundance of crimes, including “trespassing, assault, extortion, drug use, illegal firearm possession, human trafficking, and sexual abuse.”
The result was chaos. We have obtained a confidential report, which alleges, according to witness interviews, that the apartments saw a string of crimes, including trespassing, assault, extortion, drug use, illegal firearm possession, human trafficking, and sexual abuse. pic.twitter.com/GTZ4yOnyIQ
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) September 10, 2024
Volunteers who spoke with Rufo said they were originally eager to help the criminal aliens but grew disillusioned over time.
“I am passionate about helping migrants and I have been honestly shocked at the way the city is sending funds to an organization that clearly is not equipped to handle it,” one volunteer said.
Despite this, Denver reportedly recently voted to funnel even more money into these sorts of criminal alien relocation programs.
“[T]he total cost to Denver could be up to $340 million, factoring in new burdens on schools and the health-care system,” Rufo notes.
Read the full story about the federal funds driving the Aurora migrant crisis, exclusively in City Journal: https://t.co/6UkDo0Je6k
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) September 10, 2024
Rufo’s report comes amid an influx of reports about the activity in nearby Aurora, where Venezuelan criminal aliens affiliated with the Tren de Aragua (TDA) prison gang have taken over several apartment buildings.
A local investor who’s affiliated with a company (possibly CBZ) that owns several apartment complexes in Aurora told the New York Post that there was a “massive shootout” at one of the properties some time ago.
“I’m scared that this could happen in America,” the investor said, adding that the company has “lost control” of several properties because of the gang.
“They were first hanging out around the property and creating a bad element that’s constantly there. And then they started taking over, quite a few months ago, they started taking over vacant units,” they added.
Eventually, TDA gang members began to rent units out to criminal aliens whom they reportedly “threatened.” They also reportedly terrorized the apartment buildings’ staff, forcing them to flee.
Violent Venezuelan gang seizes apartment buildings, terrorize quiet American town, and beyond: report https://t.co/XC8wJTnTo4
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) August 27, 2024
John Fabbricatore, a former ICE official who’s now running for Congress, complained to the Post that local officials have been slow to react to the gang’s growing presence.
“It’s become increasingly clear that certain city officials, including the Aurora Police Department, have downplayed or ignored the criminal activities affecting many neighborhoods in North Aurora,” he said.
“Notably, illegal immigrant gang activities have been present in specific apartment complexes throughout Aurora, yet these issues have been understated for what appear to be ideological reasons,” he added.
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