During a virtual town hall Crow held on Thursday, May 15, he warned constituents that the White House will continue imprisoning immigrants in Aurora and wants to cut staff at the VA hospital and Medicaid for thousands in his district.
The Democrat represents the 6th Congressional District, which covers most of Aurora as well as Littleton, Centennial and other parts of Douglas and Arapahoe counties.
Upwards of 1,400 immigrants are currently incarcerated in Aurora at the detention center used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Crow said. The facility has 1,500 beds, but it only held 200 to 300 immigrants at a time before Trump took office in January, according to GEO Group, the private prison company contracted by ICE to staff and operate the facility. After Trump was elected in November, GEO Group spent $70 million preparing the facility to "meet anticipated requirements," the company said.
Although GEO Group runs the facility, its contract with ICE holds the federal agency responsible for the well-being and safety of people detained there, who are all facing deportation. According to Crow, ICE liaisons aren't as responsive as they were before Trump returned to office.
"What seems to be happening is an increase in the use of that detention center," Crow told around 1,000 listeners during the call. "We're having problems, we're encountering roadblocks. Already, what we're seeing is our liaisons and our representatives locally in the region, in Colorado, are not responding to our requests and our oversight."
Crow didn't specify what kind of requests or oversight ICE officials might be putting off, but he said that he's still able to enter the facility.
"I continue to do very robust oversight of that facility. My team regularly visits. I visit several times a year, and we ensure that people are treated properly, that they get health care," he said. "We want to make sure we're protecting innocent folks, that they're getting due process, that families and children and others don't get pulled into immigration enforcement efforts."
"I continue to do very robust oversight of that facility. My team regularly visits. I visit several times a year, and we ensure that people are treated properly, that they get health care," he said. "We want to make sure we're protecting innocent folks, that they're getting due process, that families and children and others don't get pulled into immigration enforcement efforts."
Crow was denied entry into the facility multiple times in early 2019, when his office tried to check on reports of a disease outbreak there. The congressman successfully pushed through a bill later that year that allowed members of Congress to visit federal facilities with 48 hours' notice. But under the new administration, ICE isn't responding to Crow "like we used to see," he said.
"Things are being centralized in the administration in Washington, making local oversight much harder. We're going to try to figure out how to get around that," he told listeners. "There remain many very, very serious problems with that facility."
Crow said he's working with the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) and the American Civil Liberties Union to make sure that detainees "have representation, that they have access to legal counsel and that U.S. citizens and families are not being pulled into immigration enforcement." "Things are being centralized in the administration in Washington, making local oversight much harder. We're going to try to figure out how to get around that," he told listeners. "There remain many very, very serious problems with that facility."
The number detained at the facility "fluctuates, but it's at a very high level right now, usually between 1,200 and 1,400 detained individuals," Crow said. Among those detained is Jeanette Vizguerra, a nationally recognized immigrant activist who won the RFK Human Rights Award hours before Crow's town hall.
However, RMIAN had to stop offering free legal services to immigrants at courthouses and detention centers in late January as a result of an executive order signed by Trump when he took office. The nonprofit was able to reinstate its free legal services for children in late February, but services for adults are still prohibited.
The Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora was going to be used for Trump's mass deportations; the Department of Defense announced in late January that it allowed ICE to "stage and process criminal illegal aliens" at the base. Crow toured the facility in early February and discovered "it was being used as the command center" for ICE, the congressman told listeners, then added that it's no longer being used as an ICE command center for mass deportations.
"It is my understanding that those operations have been ramped down and it's no longer being used in that capacity. There aren't any current plans to use it to actually house detainees," Crow said. "Right now, Buckley Space Force Base is not a part of the enforcement effort, but I will be keeping my eyes and ears glued to the base to make sure it's not used in that manner."
During the town hall, Crow said he's "making sure that our military is used for the things that they're supposed to be used for, and that they're not being pulled into political issues and things like immigration enforcement."
Health Care, Future of Democracy Top of Mind
Audience questions during the town hall had more to do with health care and how to protect democracy than they did with immigration.A veteran named Joseph Kennedy Jr. told Crow that "we need to have an oversight on the quality of care" at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, a Veterans Affairs hospital. Crow blamed the poor quality of care on understaffing in the VA exacerbated by cuts and hiring freezes similar to what other federal agencies have seen.
"I'm extremely concerned with the lack of a permanent director at the regional VA center. I'm extremely concerned by the hiring freezes, which have prevented the VA and Rocky Mountain hospital from hiring critical health-care specialties," Crow said. "We simply don't have enough practitioners and providers in the VA system...instead of addressing that issue, unfortunately, the administration is proposing cuts of over 80,000 personnel from the VA system."
Other residents asked Crow to protect their Medicaid, a government program that covers the cost of medical care for low-income households. Crow said that about 175,000 people in his district would lose access to Medicaid under Trump's current proposals for the federal budget; that issue is top of mind for him, he added.
"This is the thing I think the most about right now," Crow said. "If Medicaid gets cut, it is not an exaggeration to say people will die and people will suffer."
Crow promised to try and stop "the budget proposals that will result in tens of thousands of my constituents potentially losing health care," but admitted that "I can't make promises" because of the opposition he faces in Congress and the White House, both of which are controlled by Republicans.
The most common questions from the virtual town hall audience were how they can protect institutions and societal pillars that matter to them, bridge the political divide, or unify Trump opponents. Crow told them to get involved in community groups like Rotary Clubs and immigrant and refugee organizations, but to continue trying to get along with the other side of the political spectrum.
"The biggest change comes from the community," Crow said. "Speak up, let people know who we are in the community, and let people know what your values are — but while you're doing that, build bridges because we can't afford to demonize each other."
The most common questions from the virtual town hall audience were how they can protect institutions and societal pillars that matter to them, bridge the political divide, or unify Trump opponents. Crow told them to get involved in community groups like Rotary Clubs and immigrant and refugee organizations, but to continue trying to get along with the other side of the political spectrum.
"The biggest change comes from the community," Crow said. "Speak up, let people know who we are in the community, and let people know what your values are — but while you're doing that, build bridges because we can't afford to demonize each other."
In a statement to Westword, the VA says its staff cuts are part of a "comprehensive, data-driven review of all agencies and processes within the department with the goal of fixing the problems that have kept VA on the Government Accountability Office’s high-risk list since 2015."
"We’re going to maintain VA’s mission-essential jobs like doctors, nurses and claims processors, while phasing out non-mission essential roles like DEI officers. The savings we achieve will be redirected to Veteran health care and benefits," part of a statement from Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz reads. "Our goal is to reduce the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions to 2019 levels – roughly 398,000 employees – down from roughly 470,000 employees currently, which is about a 15 percent decrease. But those staff changes have not happened yet."
This article was updated to include a statement from VA Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz.
