Aurora's New Councilmember Is a Refugee Who's Tough on Immigration

Immigration raids promised by President Donald Trump unfolded in Aurora on Wednesday, February 5, and Amsalu Kassaw, the city's newest councilman, promises he won't stand in the way.


Kassaw considers himself "a unique example of the American dream" after resettling in Aurora as an Ethiopian refugee eighteen years ago. He works for the GEO Group, an international private prison company, as a lieutenant at the Aurora Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility, where he has daily interactions with immigrants facing deportation

"I do follow all the rules," Kassaw proudly states. "If you follow all the rules, we can all enjoy the American dream."

Trump suspended refugee resettlement on his first day in office on January 20, but Kassaw is still a big supporter of the current president, especially his mass deportation plans. Kassaw says that Trump's directive to pause refugee resettlement wouldn't have stopped him from coming to the U.S. because he "wasn't taking any public benefit as a refugee at the time, but did it myself," although Kassaw didn't elaborate how he came to America.

"We should also prioritize a quick and effective integration program to help them become self-sufficient and contribute positively to the community, like providing pathways for refugees to enter the workforce quickly, including vocational training and American cultural [classes] to ease their transition into society," he adds.
After former Aurora City Councilman Dustin Zvonek left his seat in October to join a lobbying firm, the rest of the council voted 6-4 in December to appoint Kassaw to the vacancy. He was sworn in on January 13, and now represents all of Aurora as one of the city's four at-large council members.

"I took every opportunity that this country gave me. I have kids, three beautiful kids, and I tell everybody we're all lucky," he says. "Now I can contribute something to this great city of Aurora, to the local residents."

Here are a few things to know about Aurora's new councilmember.


On the morning of Wednesday, February 5, ICE agents raided apartment complexes throughout the metro area, including at the Edge of Lowry. More than 100 agents from ICE and various federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI, were involved, according to the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC), who denounced the raids as "indiscriminate shows of force" in a February 6 statement.

According to the Colorado Rapid Response Network, a group that tracks ICE activity, at least four raids took place in Denver and Aurora on February 5.

"These raids are a disgraceful abuse of power, an attack on families, and a direct attempt to criminalize immigrants who are simply trying to build their lives," Andrea Loya, executive director of Aurora immigrant services organization Casa De Paz, says in a statement. "We will not let these actions go unanswered."

Other local groups condemned the raids, as well, and described them as violent. The Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN), a Westminster-based nonprofit that offers legal aid to immigrants, reported that doors were "blasted open by flash-bang grenades."


Kassaw doesn't see it that way, however. He says that the ICE raids in Aurora were "long overdue" and "we need to support this effort and not politicize the issue" of public safety.

"I stand with efforts that ensure our neighborhoods are protected from criminals," he says, adding that he's upset with the media for what he believes was misleading and exaggerated coverage.

With the possibility of more raids lingering, Kassaw says he encourages immigrants and the Aurora community to trust ICE and Trump's mass deportation plan, known as Operation Aurora.

"Operation Aurora is designed to uphold this priority of addressing the criminal activity," Kassaw says. "It's creating a safe environment for our residents, so supporting Operation Aurora means a more secure and safer Aurora for our families, for future generations — and it's good for small business."

Kassaw wouldn't say that Aurora is unsafe, but "a lot of criminal activity around the metro area is affecting Aurora, a lot of drugs, a lot of fentanyl," he says. According to the new councilman, the TdA incident in August made it clear that "we are facing a significant challenge with crime in Aurora."

"In the Colfax area, [business owners] told me they don't want to open their business. They do feel unsafe because of what happened in that area," he says.

Along with raids and deportations, Kassaw welcomes ICE's use of the Buckley Space Force Base. Last week, U.S. Northern Command, a military agency, said in a January 28 statement that ICE will be using the base to temporarily hold and process people for deportations. Congressman Jason Crow said on Monday, February 3, that it won't be used for long-term detention but more as a staging ground for ICE to coordinate deportations.

Kassaw blames former President Joe Biden and the City of Denver for letting criminals come to Aurora. He calls Denver a "sanctuary city" for policies that withhold aid and information from ICE. In early January, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman blamed Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's lack of transparency regarding how many migrants Denver allegedly put in Aurora, and for the "national embarrassment" of headlines claiming the city was taken over by TdA.

The City of Denver has denied placing immigrants in any specific apartment complexes or housing properties, with Johnston saying that city funds support third-party organizations that are in charge of finding new immigrants housing. Those organizations have denied choosing any single property for immigrant placement, arguing that they find housing locations based on requests of their clients.

Kassaw agrees with Coffman, and takes it a step further — all the way to Washington, D.C.

"Not only the Biden administration, but Denver as a sanctuary city is sending all these people to Aurora. You heard the mayor: That creates a big mess in Aurora," Kassaw says. "The community being ignored by the previous administration and also the Denver mayor sending all these people to Aurora secretly, that creates a big, big problem that we're facing right now."

That problem includes the kidnapping and torture of two people at the Edge of Lowry on December 17, he says. ICE detained sixteen people at the Edge shortly after the incident. Nine people were criminally charged in January while another seven are under investigation, according to the Aurora Police Department. As an Aurora councilman, Kassaw assures that the city will let ICE continue making arrests like this.

"We have a broken immigration system," he says. "We're not going to block anything that the federal government is going to do. The federal government has given a priority to hunt people with a criminal background, so we should not get involved or engaged. We need to let the federal government do their jobs so the community can be safe."

Kassaw says he's confident Aurora's Ethiopian community is on board with Trump's deportations. He says he maintains strong ties to his fellow Ethiopians in Aurora through his time spent at St. Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Church on East Colfax Avenue and Laredo Street.

"We are law-abiding citizens here in Colorado. A lot of immigrants in the Ethiopian community are conservative, so they feel like the community needs to be more protected when it comes to crime," Kassaw says. "I would say 75 percent of the community is very supportive to see what's going on right now."