Two Venezuelan gang members released on $1,000 bond after Aurora, CO shooting : report

Two suspected Venezuelan gang members have been released after being arrested in connection to a shooting in Aurora, Colorado. The shooting took place near an apartment complex that has been reportedly infiltrated by the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. The two came into the US using the Biden-Harris administration's CBP One app.

According to the New York Post, Venezuelan brothers Dixon Azuaje-Perez, 20, and Nixon Azuaje-Perez, 19, who have been charged with attempting to tamper with evidence in the July shooting, were released after they both posted $1,000 bond in the case. This is despite Immigrations and Customs Enforcement issuing ICE detainers for their arrest. They are two of four arrested in connection with the shooting; the other two are Jhonnarty Dejesus Pacheco-Chirinos and Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirinos, both are documented Tren de Aragua gang members. 



The Azuaje-Perez brothers are both being tracked with a GPS system and are near an apartment complex in Denver, according to sources that spoke to the Post. The outlet reported that the Aurora Police Department confirmed that the two suspected gang members are "no longer in custody."

“Sanctuary cities do not protect United States citizens, they only protect criminals,” said former Denver ICE director John Fabbricatore. “As we see in this case, where two individuals that were let in on the CBP One app were involved in a shooting and were released due to sanctuary policy, and ICE was not notified. Two men who will go back into the community and potentially commit more crimes.”

Both entered the country in August of last year through Eagle Pass, Texas, and used the CBP One app to do so, per the outlet. Using the CBP One app when arriving at the border is listed as an exception for entry when the border is shut down due to it being “overwhelmed” under the Biden-Harris administration's executive action taken in April. The Harris camp has backed this for her immigration policy.

Neither Dixon Azuaje-Perez nor Nixon Azuaje-Perez had any other documentation for entry in 2023, per the outlet. Luckily for them, one does not need any identifying paperwork to make a profile on the CBP One app. The only biometric requirement to set up a profile is a picture.

The gang members told authorities that they were going to be going to New York, however, they ended up involved in the shooting a year later in Aurora, Colorado. Illegal immigrant sanctuary policies in the area have come under heavy scrutiny since a video of other Venezuelan gang members parading around an apartment complex with firearms went viral online.