Speak up and be heard

Arapahoe County commissioner district boundaries are about to change and we want your input.

This month we are hosting public hearings in each district. Attend one of the remaining hearings below, virtually or in person. Missed your district’s hearing? You can still get details, view proposed maps and submit your comments by visiting arapahoegov.com/redistricting

Arapahoe County Fairgrounds (District 3)

Thursday, April 20, 6 p.m.

CentrePoint Plaza (District 5)

Monday, April 24, 6 p.m.

Arapahoe County property tax deadline

For taxpayers who chose to pay their taxes in one full payment, rather than in two half-payments, the full payment due date is Monday, May 1. For taxpayers paying in two installments, the second installment is due Monday, June 15 For more information, visit arapahoegov.com/treasurer.

rights of its mainly asylum-seeking detainees through medical neglect and abuse, which has led to at least two deaths.”

A Rocky Mountain PBS investigation, originally published in 2019, found that police often do not investigate allegations of sexual abuse and physical assaults at the Aurora facility.

In April 2022, e Colorado Sun reported three immigrant rights organizations led a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security alleging racial discrimination, excessive use of force and retaliation against two Black immigrants at the facility.

In November 2022, activists expressed frustration at a lack of information regarding the death of 39-year-old Melvin Ariel CaleroMendoza, who was in ICE custody in Aurora, according to reporting by CPR.

Establishing oversight e Aurora facility is located within the congressional district of Democratic U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, who aims to end these private detention centers.

During an April 3 tour of the Casa de Paz home, Crow said when he rst came into o ce in 2019, his o ce started getting reports from the community about abuses at the facility and substandard conditions. Crow said he wanted to do an inspection, but he was told that if he pre-announced the inspection, the facility may “clean it up and give us the dog-and-pony-show.”

“So I actually showed up in my North Face pu er jacket and jeans, like I often do, and I said, I’m here — I represent this district and I’m here to do an inspection. And they turned me down,” he said. “It took me three attempts over about a 30day period to nally get access to that facility, which obviously really pissed me o .”

Eventually, he said he gained access to the facility and reportedly saw a lot of the things he had been told about and warned about by the community. It prompted his o ce to try to reform the facility.

As part of this e ort, Crow helped pass a law, called the Public Oversight of Detention Centers Act, that now requires immigration detention facilities provide immediate access to members of Congress, as well as provide access to congressional sta with only a 24-hour notice.

On his website, bit.ly/crowweb, Crow’s o ce documents action it has taken regarding immigration detention centers and the Aurora facility in particular, as well as accountability reports from the ICE Aurora Contract Detention Facility. e most recent accountability report published on the website, dated March 3, states that there were 654 people most recently formally counted in the facility, with 591 males and 63 females.

“We’re in our fth year of this project, trying to make things as good as possible, given the fact that these facilities have not been shut down yet,” Crow said. “Ultimately, we need to shut these facilities down. I’ve been very clear about that.”

In March 2022, Crow joined two other members of Congress in asking the administration of President Joe Biden to end contracting with private, for-pro t immigration detention facilities, according to a news release from Crow’s o ce.

Until that happens, a priority for Crow’s o ce is working with community partners like Casa de Paz, he explained.

“ is organization really lls a huge gap,” he said. “People are just released from these facilities oftentimes with no safety net, right on the streets. No baggage, no personal belongings, nothing. And it’s bad for them; it’s bad for the community.”

Casa de Paz: Providing a better welcome e nonpro t even has a van located outside the facility so volunteers can connect with released people. e volunteers will then bring those people to the nearby house, which is equipped to provide food, clothing, backpacks, personal hygiene products and access to a telephone, computer and Wi-Fi at no cost.

Casa de Paz tries to make contact with each person released from the Aurora facility, said Andrea Loya, the nonpro t’s executive director.

“We are really just trying to provide folks with a better welcome than they have received up to this point,” Loya said. “We’re constantly trying to provide better services for folks.” e organization has served people from more than 83 countries in the last 10 years, Loya said. e average length of stay is about 1.5 days, and the house has some bedrooms for people who need a temporary place to sleep. e number of people Casa de Paz serves in a week uctuates, she said.

“We have seen 100 people a week. We have seen 50 people a week. We have seen 50 people every day,” Loya said.

Crow asked Loya how people in the Aurora facility learn about Casa de Paz, to which she explained it is mainly word of mouth. She noted the nonpro t also has a visitation program, and a lot of people who are currently detained know to look for the nonpro t when they are released.

‘Punish them for trying to seek a better life’

Casa de Paz representatives have concerns about the treatment of people in the Aurora facility due to what has been reported to them, Loya explained. For example, some women have reported being taunted by o cers, she said.

“People did not realize that the U.S. would punish them for trying to seek a better life,” she said. “So, a lot of people will complain about the conditions of GEO, but also a lot of people are also shocked by the fact that isolation and being treated like a criminal for seeking asylum is the … model that we have.” e facility does have some people who have been transferred after they spent some time in prison, Loya said. Most of those people will often say that they would rather be in prison than be in a facility like GEO’s because they “get treated 10 times better at a prison than … at an immigrant detention center,” she said.

Crow said a misperception some community members have is that the people who are detained in the facility are all criminals.

“ ere’s a very small number of people who are picked up because of criminal violations. e vast majority of the people there are actually complying with U.S. law.

“What U.S. law says is that if you present yourself at an entry point or a border crossing, and you request asylum or refugee status — that’s what you’re supposed to do,” he said. “And then we take those folks and we put them in detention centers — so how is that right and just?”

According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research organization at Syracuse University, 57.8% of those held in ICE detention have no criminal record as of April 9, and “many more have only minor o enses, including tra c violations.”

“ ere’s a huge disconnect between what our law … states and what people are doing to comply with that law, and then how we’re treating them when they’re going through the process as outlined,” Crow said. “ at’s why, ultimately, why these centers need to be shut down.”

Investigation into Calero-Mendoza’s death

Regarding the death of Melvin Ariel Calero-Mendoza in October last year, Crow said he led a letter e ort to request more information and to push for more transparency.

In October 2022, Crow and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper called for an independent investigation into CaleroMendoza’s death, according to a news release from Crow’s o ce.

“We do have concerns about that … and the prior fatalities that occurred at that facility and the other medical emergencies that have occurred at that facility,” he said. “We’ve never had the level of transparency and engagement that we would expect, frankly, because these for-pro t facilities have perverse incentives.”

Crow noted he expects more information once the investigation has concluded.

Looking ahead

If the Aurora ICE facility were to close, the only fear that Loya has is that people will be relocated somewhere that is not accessible.

Currently, in the community, residents and businesses will reach out to Casa de Paz if they come across someone who needs their services, she said.

“Everybody in this area knows that we’re here. And so if this one were to close, but then relocate, that would make it di cult for the community outreach and the community support,” Loya said.

Loya is really excited to work with Crow’s o ce and continue the efforts of holding ICE accountable, she said.

“I think, speci cally, this partnership is really important for that,” she said.

ose interested in learning more about Casa de Paz, the services it o ers and ways to get involved can visit: casadepazcolorado.org.