JD Vance: We have got to end the practice of sanctuary cities
VP candidate JD Vance reacts to the migrant gang takeover of an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado
Vice presidential candidate JD Vance said it is time to end the practice of sanctuary cities as Aurora, Colorado is grappling with crime from a Venezuelan gang.
"If we don't have a border, we do not have a real country… Kamala Harris has allowed us to import the business of the drug cartels into our own communities, and Americans are suffering because of it," Vance said on "Fox & Friends" Friday.
Vance is calling for the end of sanctuary cities and states, after migrant gangs reportedly took over an apartment complex outside Denver.
Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang have overtaken an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, charging rent in exchange for 'protection.' (Edward Romero)
"If you've got illegal immigrants in your communities, they need to go home, and you need to cooperate with local and federal law enforcement to help get illegal immigrants out of our country."
"It needs to be against federal law, and we need to be willing to use the purse strings of the federal government," said Vance.
"If a local city is not willing to cooperate with deporting violent criminals, then we need to say, well, then maybe we're not going to give you as much money as we used to. We have got to end the practice of sanctuary cities," arguing that sanctuary status makes communities "poorer and less safe."
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Vance didn't hold back when calling out Kamala Harris for her role as vice president in the midst of the ongoing border crisis.
"These local governments are being totally destroyed because they're paying for Kamala Harris' open border real quick."
Arapahoe County, Colorado District Attorney John Kellner, who represents Aurora, said Friday on "America's Newsroom" that authorities are "aggressively prosecuting" and have a multi-agency task force investigating the Tren de Aragua gang.
The DA reassured citizens that they have held similar criminals accountable in the past.
"Just over the last few years we saw elements of another transnational gang, MS-13, try to establish a foothold in our community. We indicted over a dozen members of that gang, aggressively prosecuted them for multiple murders, multiple shootings, violent crimes. And several of them are spending the next few decades probably looking back on their life choices in prison and regretting them."
Kellner added that police are actively working to identify the individuals who have taken over the apartment complex and committed other suspected crimes.
"I can tell you this is real. It's not imaginary, and it's certainly not misinformation," Kellner said after the governor downplayed the situation in Aurora.
"Cities across our country that are extremely far away from our border are dealing with the impacts of a failed border policy. A porous southern border," Kellner added.
Democrat governor of Colorado Jared Polis had dismissed outrage over the video showing what appeared to be armed Venezuelan gang members in an apartment building as "imagination," despite significant evidence.
In a statement shared to the New York Post, Polis' spokeswoman Shelby Wieman claimed, "The Governor has already let the Mayor know that the State is ready to support the local police department with assistance from state troopers and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation if needed."
"But, according to police intelligence, this purported invasion is largely a feature of Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination," added Wieman.
Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky fired back after the governor's denial, saying "I am so disappointed."
Wieman responded to Fox News Digital, saying "[Governor Polis] hopes that the city council members in charge stop trashing their own city when they are supposed to keep it safe."
Denver has welcomed over 42,000 migrants since 2022, costing the sanctuary city more than $72 million, according to city data.
Tren de Aragua recently drew attention when it emerged that the brother of the suspect in the killing of Georgia student Laken Riley had ties to the gang. Both are Venezuelan illegal immigrants. Recently, the Treasury designated Tren de Aragua a significant transnational criminal organization and offered financial rewards for the conviction of three of its leaders.
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Fox News' Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
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