Nixon Joe Azuaje Perez
1/5/2025
Arrested by ICE inside the Adams County Probation building, where he and his brother voluntarily appeared to have their ankle monitors adjusted, on September 6. Nixon and his brother, Dixon, had initially been arrested and were on trial for their alleged involvement in tampering with the evidence following a shooting at the apartment complex where they lived.
The Aurora PD could not find evidence that they were members of TdA, but ICE maintained that they were.
“‘The Supervised Release Program is part of pretrial services with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, located at 4201 E. 72 Ave.” Sherman said in an email. It is a sheriff’s office program. I do not have any information if the ICE were contacted by someone from that office or not,’” said Sgt. Adam Sherman, public information officer for Adams County, according to The Aurora Sentinel.
State Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, said that not only does the detention of the brothers inside the probation office appear to directly violate both SB19-1124 and SB20-083, but it specifically erodes the trust these agencies claim to have worked diligently to establish.
“That is why the Aurora Police Department’s initial labeling of the Azuaje-Perez brothers as gang members and the brothers’ subsequent detention by ICE officers inside the Adams County probation office is extraordinarily troubling,” Gonzales said. “The brothers’ criminal cases are still pending, which means they are innocent until proven guilty, but the consequence of their labeling as gang members and renewed immigration detention has all but destroyed their asylum applications.”
(January 5, 2025)
