For millions of immigrants, the United States is a beacon of hope, an escape from violence and economic futility. For Venezuelan brothers Nixon and Dixon Azuaje-Perez, however, their journey to a better life has spiraled into a tangle of legal battles, incarceration and uncertainty.
What the two young men say was a mistake made after a July 28 shooting at their northwest Aurora apartment has left them grappling with a harsh reality far removed from the promise of a fresh start at the American dream.
Police say the brothers were not involved in the July 28 shooting at the Aspen Grove Apartments, one of a bevy of crimes and controversies linked to Venezuelan immigrants and gang members that have made Aurora the nexus of an anti-immigrant battleground. But police say the two brothers 鈥渢ampered with evidence in the shooting,鈥� prompting their arrests. The brothers say they were only trying to move spent bullet casings from the shooting away from their front door landing to keep from drawing attention to their apartment.
It may have ended their years-long journey to an American life.
The two Azuaje-Perez brothers and their mother say they felt like so many South American immigrants seeking asylum in the United States. If they could just get here, everything would eventually fall into place. It鈥檚 a common mantra for millions fleeing nations rife with corruption, crime and poverty.
A journey of hope
The family migrated from Venezuela to Peru six years ago, when the brothers were 15 and 13 years old, to escape widespread violence in their birth nation and find better jobs. When life in Peru became just as difficult, their mother sought asylum in the United States with her three children, including Dixon and Nixon.
Both brothers helped their mother a lot, friends and family told the Sentinel. Dixon, 21, takes on the responsibility of the oldest brother鈥檚 role, helping his mother support the family, and Nixon, 19, also helps by pitching in to watch out for his siblings.
After traveling by foot, train, and occasionally hitchhiking for months more than 1,000 miles from Peru to Mexico and then to the United States, their mother filled out asylum paperwork with her sons as her dependents to enter the US legally, according to the brothers鈥� mother and community members who have helped the family.
ICE reports that U.S. immigration records show the brothers entered the United States on Aug. 22, 2023. This allowed them to legally move about the country while court determinations for their asylum requests were processed. This process can easily take months or even years, immigration attorneys say.
Nixon and Dixon entered the Camino Real International Bridge 2 Port of Entry in Eagle Pass, Texas, where they were arrested by United States Customs and Border Protection and issued a notice to appear. They were subsequently released on immigration 鈥減arole,鈥� according to an ICE spokesperson.
The Sentinel agreed not to name the men鈥檚 mother nor younger brother because both fear harassment by federal officials or anti-immigrant activists.
鈥淭hey were dependents on her asylum application,鈥� said Jennifer Piper, interfaith organizing director at the American Friends Service Committee鈥檚 Denver Immigrant Rights program.
The family applied for asylum through the CBP One process, which required an appointment for screening at the border, according to Piper. Once cleared, they immediately traveled to New York, where the family set their immigration hearings as a unit, Piper said. The two older brothers, who were 19 and 20 years old, were legally adults but still young enough that their mother could claim them as dependents on her asylum paperwork.
However, the situation in New York, crowded with no job opportunities, prompted the two older brothers to look elsewhere across the country.
鈥淭hey were staying in the shelters for single men,鈥� Piper said. 鈥淣YC was also being very strict then, sending buses to other places and saying they were full, so the environment was pretty hostile.鈥�
Since the brothers couldn鈥檛 find work or stay with their mother, they decided to try their luck in Colorado. They heard from friends that there was work in Aurora, and those friends offered to let the brothers stay with them in exchange for watching their child while they were at work.
Dixon and Nixon moved to Aurora on Dec. 30, 2023. They settled in Aurora鈥檚 Aspen Grove Apartments, 1568 Nome St., where they lived with friends and worked side jobs while helping care for children in the building.
They quickly became familiar faces in the community, known for their hard work and willingness to help others, Piper said. His mother describes Dixon as a caring, responsible older brother who takes pride in supporting his family, while Nixon is known for his optimism, ambition and strong sense of responsibility toward his siblings.
A shooting and its fallout
Their world began to fall apart when a shooting occurred July 28, 2024, at the apartment complex.
That midsummer morning at 4:30 a.m., the Aurora Police Department was called to the complex after multiple calls reporting a 鈥渟hootout鈥� that took place outside on three of five floors of the building. The shooting has since become part of a national story involving the apartment鈥檚 owner, a local city council member making disputed claims about foreign gang takeovers and President-elect Donald Trump promising to create 鈥淥peration Aurora.鈥� The plan would put the city in the crosshairs of Trump鈥檚 promise of mass deportation.
At Aspen Grove that morning, there were multiple gunmen with numerous shots, including some from automatic weapons, according to a police affidavit. Two victims were found shot, and the third had fractures to his lower legs after jumping from a fourth-floor window. As officers were attempting to 鈥渃lear the chaotic scene鈥� within an hour of their arrival, they saw two 鈥淗ispanic males鈥� picking up gun shells from the third-floor walkway in front of their apartment door.
The Aspen Grove apartment complex is built in a U shape, with an outdoor walkway that lines the inside of the U, much like a motel. Nixon and Dixon were seen outside of their unit picking up and tossing the bullet shells from the space near their front door, police said in a report.
They were both wearing white, with one wearing a red shirt, when the officers spotted them. The brothers went inside their apartment, and when the officers attempted to knock on the door, they didn鈥檛 answer. The next day at 2:16 p.m., police returned with an arrest affidavit, read them their Miranda rights and questioned them with a Spanish-speaking officer.
Azuaje-Perez were among others in Aurora tabbed as members of TdA. Police have since said there was no evidence of their involvement with the gang.
Dixon told the officers he had nothing to do with the shooting, according to the affidavit. He said that the shooters entered the three units next to theirs and that those people were only at the apartment complex 鈥渟ometime.鈥�
Translations with the officer and later with Google Translate made some of the accounts from the brothers hard to understand in the affidavit.
Dixon said they were inside when they heard the gunshots and later tried to move the shells so the police wouldn鈥檛 think they were involved. Nixon told police a similar story, according to the same affidavit.
鈥淭he people who shot from the side of my apartment,鈥� Nixon said in a direct quote in the affidavit. 鈥淭hey are my neighbors, and there are many other people there who are armed. That鈥檚 why I entered my apartment.鈥�
It was unclear in the affidavit if Nixon said he entered his apartment after the shooting or if he meant that he was in the apartment during the shooting since many of the translations were through Google Translate. The people involved in the shooting were outside much of the night drinking and partying while carrying guns, according to the affidavits.
Police accused the brothers of tampering with evidence, and they were arrested and sent to Adams County jail in Brighton.
The two were advised of the charges against them on July 30. The same day, Enforcement and Removal Officers from ICE Denver encountered Nixon and Dixon and issued an immigration detainer.
A moment of freedom
The brothers each bonded out for $1,500 Aug. 5, with payment sent by their mother in New York. They were also given GPS ankle monitors at the courthouse to keep track of their locations.
By Aug. 11, The city and Aurora Police Department announced a special task force in collaboration with other local, state and federal partners to make clear and crack down on people in areas linked to the notorious prison gang, Tren De Aragua, also known as TdA.
The city shuttered The Aspen Grove Apartments Aug. 13, partly because of continued crime at the complex and scores of health and safety violations documented as unresolved for more than two years.
How the brothers became so quickly intertwined with ICE agents set off red flags for at least one state legislator who has led legislative efforts to restrain such action.
State Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, said that during the first Trump administration, ICE officers conducted operations near courthouses, schools and other sensitive locations. In response, she said, the Colorado General Assembly enacted HB19-1124, which prevents local law enforcement from honoring ICE detainer requests without a judicial warrant. In addition, SB20-083 prohibits ICE from carrying out civil arrests at courthouses.
Gonzales said these policies ensured law enforcement can build and maintain trust with vulnerable communities. During the debates over these measures, victims鈥� advocates, legal professionals and immigrant-support organizations emphasized the importance of fostering trust with noncitizens, survivors of violence and trauma and non-English-speaking individuals.
The brothers stayed at their Aspen Grove apartment until it was closed, then moved to Denver to stay with friends.
On Aug. 18, the now-viral video of six armed men entering an apartment unit at the Edge of Lowry was broadcast, first locally and then on national TV news shows. The same property management company that owned the Edge at Lowry also owned the Aspen Grove Apartment complex.
Police began asking the public for tips on people linked to TdA, as they were 鈥渋ncreasingly collecting evidence鈥� on Aug. 28 about who was linked to the Venezuelan gang and how many TdA gang members were in the region.
Police confirmed Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirinos, 22, as a shooter and Tren de Aragua gang member on Aug. 30 after reviewing video surveillance from the Aspen Grove Apartments. He was arrested right after the shooting with his older brother, Jhonnarty Dejesus Pacheco-Chirinos, who was later identified as a gang member, too, according to court documents.
On Sept. 4, The Aurora Police Department released photographs of Dixon and Nixon as suspected gang members alongside the Pacheco-Chirinos brothers, who had both been identified as Tren de Aragua gang members. Dixon and Nixon were close to the same age as the Pacheco-Chirino brothers.
However, after the Sept. 4 news release, the Aurora Police Department said they found no evidence that the boys were related to TdA.
鈥淭hey have not been tied to TdA or any other specific gang at this time,鈥� Sydney Edwards wrote in an email on Oct. 18.
ICE officials, however, still claim the brothers are gang members.
鈥淣ixon Azuaje Perez, 19, and Dixon Azuaje Perez, 21, are unlawfully present citizens of Venezuela and confirmed members of the transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua,鈥� ICE officials said. ICE officials did not provide details of the alleged link to TdA.
However, the same officials said the brothers had no criminal history, and that it is not illegal to be members of a gang.
It is illegal, however, to participate in gang-related activities, according to state and federal law.
Aurora police are concerned about the illegal activities and actions in Aurora, not arresting on potential affiliation. The officials also said they do not work closely with other agencies and have not shared their evidence with other local enforcement agencies.
Piper said ICE makes these accusations regularly and that the brothers were never part of any gang. Their mother and other community members also claim the brothers were never affiliated with the gang.
According to Piper, while the brothers were out on bond, they lived with different friends in Denver. Nixon went with Dixon to his preliminary hearing in Adams County with Judge Jeffrey Dean Ruff on Sept. 6. The hearing was not held because the brothers had no attorney then. That day, they both applied for a public defender at the courthouse.
While in court, Dixon told the judge he and his brother鈥檚 ankle monitors were bruising their ankles.
The judge gave the brothers an address to get their ankle monitors adjusted and told them they could go whenever they wanted. Since there was no need to make an appointment, the brothers did not discuss when they would get their monitors adjusted, they said.
Nixon took the paper with the address and put it in his wallet.
The brothers went from the courthouse directly to the address on the paper because they had a friend driving them and didn鈥檛 want to waste any more of his time, according to Piper, who also spoke to the friend who drove the brothers.
The address was 4201 E. 72 Ave., Unit D, in Commerce City, listed as Adams County Probation. Avenue Unit B is listed at the same address as the Adams County Service Center and Adams County Sheriff鈥檚 Office Substation.
Sgt. Adam Sherman, Public Information Officer for Adams County, told the Sentinel that case managers at the Supervised Release office are 鈥渋n charge of adjusting ankle monitors.鈥�
鈥淭hey are in charge of all clients on GPS / all GPS issues,鈥� he said in an email.
The brothers told Piper they went in and told the front desk attendant they were there to have their ankle monitors adjusted. She told them they would have to wait a couple of minutes, the boys said. They said that when they told her their names, 鈥渟he looked surprised.鈥�
She left and returned and acted nervously while in the waiting room, the brothers relayed to their friend and Piper.
The two brothers and their friend who drove them said they waited about 15-20 minutes. Then, the front desk attendant told them to go to the back of the office.
鈥淭hen three ICE officials were inside the office when they took us back from the lobby into another room, and they arrested us,鈥� Piper said, recounting both brothers鈥� stories.
Their mother said she was also on the phone with Dixon when the brothers walked back to be met by ICE agents.
The brothers were arrested inside the Adams County Probation building and taken to the GEO Group Inc., ICE detention center at 3130 Oakland St.
When asked who approved the arrest inside of the county building and what the business that specific building was for, Sgt. Sherman confirmed it was a county-run office.
鈥淭he Supervised Release Program is part of pretrial services with the Adams County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, located at 4201 E. 72 Ave.鈥� Sherman said in an email. It is a sheriff鈥檚 office program. I do not have any information if the ICE were contacted by someone from that office or not.鈥�
Gonzales 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.
鈥淭hat is why the Aurora Police Department鈥檚 initial labeling of the Azuaje-Perez brothers as gang members and the brothers鈥� subsequent detention by ICE officers inside the Adams County probation office is extraordinarily troubling,鈥� Gonzales said. 鈥淭he brothers鈥� 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.鈥�
Detainment
Nixon and Dixon were arrested by Enforcement and Removal Operations Denver for immigration violations Sept. 6 and were detained in the Denver Contract Detention Facility, ICE officials said.
鈥淚 call on the Aurora Police Department, the Adams County Sheriff and the Adams County District Attorney to further investigate this incident to determine who bears responsibility for this failure to follow state law,鈥� Gonzales said.
Once the Colorado General Assembly convenes in January, Gonzales said she intends to work alongside her colleagues to strengthen state laws further in order to advance greater public safety.
鈥淛ust days ago, APD Chief Chamberlain applauded immigrant victims鈥� 鈥榗ourage鈥� for calling the police in their moment of crisis,鈥� Gonzales said.
As the state braces for the upcoming second Trump administration, Gonzales said she fears that the plights of Nixon and Dixon Azuaje-Perez 鈥� asylum-seekers whose arrests in the aftermath of a shooting that led to President-elect Trump dubbing his upcoming mass deportation plan 鈥淥peration Aurora鈥� 鈥� will make Aurorans who are immigrants or who live in mixed-status families less likely to call 911.
鈥淭hat will make all Coloradans less safe, and should concern us all,鈥� she said.
Since then, the brothers have been held in separate pods at GEO ICE. They went from being inseparable to unable to talk to or see each other.
Piper said she received the same account of what happened from both boys, even though they could not speak to each other.
The piece of paper with the address the brothers were sent to have their ankle monitors adjusted was later given to Piper. While at the facility, Nixon was able to ask for his belongings and retrieve the paper to give her.
Piper said that everyone in the car never noticed any cars following them, and there didn鈥檛 seem to be any ICE vehicles in the parking lot when they pulled up.
The driver also didn鈥檛 notice anyone pull up while waiting for the brothers in the building.
When the brothers were taken to GEO custody, ICE removed them from their mother鈥檚 application and placed them into their own deportation proceedings, Piper said. They now have to file their asylum applications while in the GEO center.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a tax attorney nor an immigration attorney, but I鈥檝e heard numerous attorneys for both say that the only law that is more complex than immigration law is tax code,鈥� Piper said. 鈥淲hen you look at all the other types of laws we have, immigration is second to tax code; you can imagine how successful people are in representing themselves in a second language.鈥�
Dixon just turned 21 years old, which closed his window to seek asylum as his mother鈥檚 dependent. Community members and family could not collect enough funds for a lawyer to help him. In his most recent immigration hearing with ICE, he was ordered to be deported.
鈥淒ixon was ordered removed to Venezuela by an immigration judge Oct. 31,鈥� ICE officials said. 鈥淒ixon remains in ICE custody pending removal to Venezuela.鈥�
He chose not to make an argument for citizenship. No one advised Dixon to allow himself to be deported, but he told Piper he thought it would be the fastest way to get out of the ICE facility.
鈥淚magine the conditions that would lead you to decide that sitting in detention for six more months was the fastest way to get out of that place,鈥� Piper said.
Since the United States does not have diplomatic relations with Venezuela, he will most likely be held at GEO for 180 days. Then, he will have a custody review, said Piper and Conor Gleason, senior attorney for Meyer Law Office, an immigration firm. Gleason spoke broadly on the immigration process without specifically addressing Dixon and Nixon.
The U.S. Constitution protects citizens and noncitizens from indefinite detention. According to the Immigration Council and Gleason, detention after a final order of removal must be tied to facilitating deportation. However, individuals must be released if removal is not likely within a reasonable timeframe, for example, in non-diplomatic relations between the US and other countries.
Federal statutes mandate a Post-Order Custody Review after 90 days. If removal remains unlikely, Gleason said, release with supervision conditions鈥攕uch as GPS ankle monitoring or travel restrictions鈥攎ust occur after 180 days. Any exceptions require compelling evidence.
鈥淗opefully, by then, his criminal case will be resolved favorably, but he doesn鈥檛 have any mechanism to stay permanently in the United States,鈥� Piper said about Dixon. 鈥淓ach day, his mental health deteriorates.鈥�
Even though he may be able to stay in Colorado, he could receive a three- or 10-year restriction where he cannot apply for citizenship for three or 10 years, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Piper said he has been held in isolation since his hearing and is still currently in isolation, that he was in a segregated unit in isolation, which she said is typically what ICE does when they are dealing with people having a mental health crisis.
ICE officials confirmed this, citing the Performance-Based National Detention Standards to which ICE adheres.
The CMA may authorize medical isolation for a detainee who is at high risk for violent behavior because of a mental health condition, the document states under medical care. The CMA shall be responsible for the daily reassessment of the need for continued medical isolation to ensure the health and safety of the detainee. The document said medical isolation should not be used as a punitive measure.
If the US and Venezuela鈥檚 relationship changes or an administration persuades a third country to take Dixon, then ICE would be able to pick him up and deport him, Piper said. Gleason confirmed that this could happen. Piper and Gleason said there was a period when ICE would keep people in detention for years, but they don鈥檛 currently do that. It鈥檚 unclear if that will change in the new year, under the new Trump Administration.
Dixon and his younger brother Nixon last lived in Venezuela when he was 15 and Nixon was 13 years old. Piper said he would be unable to navigate well if forced to go back.
鈥淭hey lived in Peru for years,鈥� Piper said. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 have a lot of family or connections there because he鈥檚 lived elsewhere.鈥�
When their immigration court hearing was moved from New York to Colorado, there was a mixup with Nixon鈥檚 case being placed in Denver instead of Aurora, which postponed his hearings for much longer than his brother鈥檚. Nixon had an immigration hearing set on Nov. 13 but couldn鈥檛 appear.
On Nov. 6, Nixon was told to pack his stuff because he was being moved to Adam鈥檚 County Court on a writ from the judge while he waited for his court hearing. This was after his third continuance, but it caused him to miss one immigration hearing, and he will most likely miss a second one before his next court date in Adams County.
ICE officials stated that it is common practice for immigrants in ICE custody to be transferred to complete any pending criminal cases.
Nixon also missed his hearing on Dec. 12 while held in Adams County Court.
Piper and other community members found Nixon a pro bono attorney who will apply for a special immigrant juvenile visa, applicable because Nixon is under 21.
He still needs an attorney to represent him in front of the immigration court because that relief comes from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, not the court. In the meantime, his deportation will continue to progress unless someone can represent him and coordinate the outcome of the criminal case and his immigration case. That lawyer will cost $3,500, and Piper and other community members have only raised $600 in their GoFundMe.
There will be a time when part of his application might be approved, and then that attorney could argue that he should be paroled while waiting to hear the final decision from the government, Piper said.
Dixon had his arraignment hearing Dec. 16, where he pleaded not guilty. The court accepted his not-guilty plea and set a motion hearing for April 4 and a jury trial May 28 and 29.
Nixon鈥檚 arraignment hearing was continued until February.