Fact Check: Donald Trump Claims Migrants ‘Taking Over’ Buildings in America Under Kamala Harris’s Leadership

Update:  A September 15 New York Times story reports that stories of gun-toting Venezuelan migrants taking over an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, are false. However, the story also reports:

1. Regarding a viral video showing armed men storming an Aurora apartment building, the Times says, “The incident was reported as a connection to gang violence, particularly the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, though documentation was scarce.”
2. The company that owns the apartments, CBZ, through its public relations agent, told the media that, “An apartment building and its owners in Aurora, Colorado have become the most recent victims of the Venezuelan Gang Tren de Aragua’s violence, which has taken over several communities in the Denver area.  The residents and building owners of these properties have been left in a state of fear and chaos.”
3. The Times story claims this is “a false story, fueled by real problems,” namely that the CBZ apartments have descended into squalor and the city has been fighting to get them cleaned up.  The story quotes a resident as saying many there are squatters.  The article also says Aurora officials have indicated there are “criminal elements” in the apartment buildings, but not widespread gang activity.
4. Recently Aurora police arrested 10 Tren de Aragua gang members on an array of charges including felony menacing, attempted first-degree murder, assault, child abuse, and domestic abuse.  In the Times story, there was no mention as to whether these gang members were residents of the Aurora apartments that received so much media attention; however, according to a police report, some of the crimes were committed at CBZ-owned Fitzsimons Place apartments, which the city of Aurora recently closed due to code violations.

Separately, the Aurora mayor and a council member issued a statement that included this comment about Tren de Aragua (TdA):

“As for the perception and reality of public safety in Aurora, please understand that issues experienced at a select few properties do not apply to the city as a whole or large portions of it. TdA has not ‘taken over’ the city. The overstated claims fueled by social media and through select news organizations are simply not true. Again, TdA’s presence in Aurora is limited to specific properties, all of which the city has been addressing in various ways for months.”

Original story continues below.

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CLAIM: Former President Donald Trump said during Tuesday night’s debate that migrants are “taking over” buildings in Aurora, Colorado, under Vice President Kamala Harris’s leadership.

VERDICT: PARTLY TRUE — the Tren de Aragua gang appears to have a presence in an Aurora apartment complex

Trump made the claim while discussing the economy, noting the impact migrants are having on Americans.

“They’re coming in, and they’re taking jobs that are occupied right now by African Americans and Hispanics and also unions,” Trump said. “Unions are going to be affected very soon. And you see what’s happening. You see what’s happening with towns throughout the United States. You look at Springfield, Ohio”:

You look at Aurora in Colorado. They are taking over the towns. They’re taking over buildings; they’re going in violently. These are the people that she and [President Joe] Biden let into our country, and they’re destroying our country. They’re dangerous. They’re at the highest level of criminality, and we have to get them out. We have to get them out fast.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and City Council Member Danielle Jurinsky issued a statement to say the local police are aggressively investigating criminal activity related to Tren de Aragua gang members and to clarify that the gang had not taken over the city but rather had a presence in “specific properties”:

As for the perception and reality of public safety in Aurora, please understand that issues experienced at a select few properties do not apply to the city as a whole or large portions of it. TdA has not “taken over” the city. The overstated claims fueled by social media and through select news organizations are simply not true. Again, TdA’s presence in Aurora is limited to specific properties, all of which the city has been addressing in various ways for months.

One business owner adjacent to that apartment complex told Breitbart News Daily that the current situation is “overwhelming,” adding that she had to install bulletproof glass to protect her business.

“It’s out of control. Denver is just a sanctuary city. They’re just, they’re just flooding them into the smaller communities. Now, they’re busing them out here. They’re busing them to our smaller communities, and our hotels are being overrun out here. And it’s just chaos, just chaos,” the caller, identified as Pam, said.

“It’s just become worse and worse and worse. We can no longer stay open late at night. You know, they had an issue not too long ago where they forced almost all the businesses on the street to shut down. I believe it was the night of the elections that happened over in Venezuela that they shut down everything,” she continued.

“It’s like I said — it’s just sheer chaos. It’s like, you know, there’s no help from anywhere, you know. And our own governor just denies that this is happening,” she said of Polis, who is also in deep denial, much like Harris.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.