Democratic Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado claimed Sunday that the city of Aurora “turned the corner” regarding crime, despite reports of a Venezuelan gang taking over an apartment complex, and said that Democrats should have an advantage on immigration.

Polis initially denied that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado despite a local TV station airing video of the gang’s activity, calling it the product of a local leader’s “imagination.” Polis praised Aurora as a “diverse” city and said crime had declined the past two years.

“I went shopping in Aurora yesterday,” Polis told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan. “What a lot of Americans need to know is Aurora is over 400,000 people, it’s Colorado’s third largest city. Violent crime is down two years in a row, car thefts are down two years in a row. It’s a wonderful city. I’m there all the time. It’s really a great, diverse city and it’s growing fast. It will probably be the number one or two city in Colorado over the next decade or two. So it’s a great city, safer than it’s been. And, look, like any city, Chicago, L.A., mid-sized cities, Denver, of course, there’s been an issue with gangs for decades in Aurora and I feel like we’ve finally turned the corner.”

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House Republicans said in a Sept. 6 letter that the situation in Aurora was due to open-border policies of the Biden administration.

Polis claimed that the Biden administration was trying to address illegal immigration, but Republicans were to blame for the failure of a bill combining foreign aid and border security negotiated by Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. The proposed legislation faced opposition from Republicans, who said it created a “magnet” for future illegal immigrants.

“[President] Joe Biden and [Vice President] Kamala Harris, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, had a real bill before them to make the needed investments in border security,” Polis claimed, adding that he had been to the border.

“I’m confident that Kamala Harris is somebody that will actually solve the border issue rather than keep it going for purely political reasons and for dividing us,” Polis maintained. “We need somebody who will unite us and of course, that includes securing our border.”

“I think she talks about it as one of the issues. We need to make America safer. We need to secure the border. She had a plan to do that. It was blocked by Donald Trump and Republicans,” Polis claimed after Brennan asked if Vice President Kamala Harris should discuss the issue. “So look, I think it’s a great issue for people to run on and talk about and it’s one that Democrats should have a huge advantage on. Republicans have failed time and time again to secure our border.”

The Border Patrol encountered nearly 7.4 million illegal immigrants since the start of fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported. Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang reportedly operating in Aurora, Colorado, has carried out high-profile crimes across the United States, including murder and kidnapping.

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