Venezuelan gangs are far from a 'fake' problem, Colorado DA says: 'Giant issue'

"There were the two extreme positions. One was, 'Hey, they'd taken over the city'... then you'd have the people on the far left in the mainstream media saying 'there's no such thing as a country of Venezuela. Venezuelans don't exist. It's all made up. It's a figment of your imagination,'" Colorado's 23rd Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler told Fox News Digital. 

The issue became even more controversial in the last few months after reports of the spread of the violent Venezuelan immigrant gang Tren de Aragua, which had taken over multiple apartment complexes in the Colorado city of Aurora.

"The illegal immigrant gang Tren de Aragua targeted Denver to be their American HQ because of weak immigration laws," Republican Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans told Fox News Digital after the hearing.

For his part, Brauchler argued that Johnston's answers during the hearing were just an attempt to "deflect" the conversation from the overall issue.

"My sense of those answers, though, were intended to deflect from the underlying and key question here. And that is, can a city, should a state stick itself between illegal aliens and the federal law? And the answer is a very obvious and easy no," he told Fox News Digital.

Despite that "obvious answer," Brauchler told Fox News Digital that Colorado's Democratic-controlled government has doubled down on sanctuary policies.

"Starting in 2018, Colorado became awash in blue, and the legislature and the governorship have been controlled by the Democrats since then, and they have done everything they can to make Colorado a sanctuary state," he said. "One of the laws that our state legislature passed fully embraced by Denver is to make our courthouses sanctuaries for illegal immigrants. They ban the enforcement of any immigration laws inside those courthouses."

Nevertheless, Brauchler said he is committed to fighting back against the policies in order to make residents of the state safer.

"If you're an illegal immigrant, and you're here in this jurisdiction, get legal. If you can't or won't get legal, then be on your best behavior," he said. "Because once you violate our laws, do not expect me to come to your rescue and figure out a way to keep you at a place that says you shouldn't be here to begin with."