AURORA, Colorado — Advocates say a Venezuelan man who was living in Aurora was deported to a dangerous prison in El Salvador, even though the evidence linking him to Tren de Aragua does “not exist” and the crime he was charged with is not violent in nature.

Nixon Azuaje-Perez, who is turning 20 this month, was among 238 people flown to El Salvador in mid-March under a new agreement between the Trump administration and the Salvadoran government. The deportation flights, which began after Trump’s January inauguration, represent what immigrant rights organizations are calling an alarming departure from established immigration protocols.

Azuaje-Perez’s journey to Aurora

Azuaje-Perez entered the United States legally in August 2023 through the CBP One app. He was unable to stay in a shelter with his family after turning 19, so he decided to relocate to Aurora, Colorado.

“Nixon came to Aurora directly to live with a young couple who were with his friends. They had a little baby, and they were working, and they needed someone to be watching his child,” said Jennifer Piper with the American Friends Service Committee.

Piper said Azuaje-Perez came to Aurora not only to live with his friends, but to create a new life and help support his family by working.

He began living with his friends at the now-closed Aspen Grove apartments off Nome Street, owned by CBZ Management. Both local officials and President Donald Trump claimed the complex was being run by a Venezuelan gang, while the landlords were also found to have neglected the property, leaving it in substandard conditions.

Azuaje-Perez was described by advocates who knew him while living at the Nome Street apartments as someone who would often play soccer outside with the younger kids. He was known to be “funny, optimistic, engaging and responsible,” advocates said.

“One of the things that has always stood out to me is one, he has a really deep faith. He is a Christian and he spends both in the morning and in the evening. He prays every single day,” Piper said. “Nixon is very much a glass half full person even though his life has not always been the circumstances haven’t been a glass that’s full.”

Local charges filed against Azuaje-Perez

In July 2024, a shooting occurred at Nome Street apartments in Aurora where Azuaje-Perez was living. According to court documents, multiple callers notified Aurora Dispatch that there were a group of people shooting at each other at the apartment building.

Police officers viewed surveillance footage from the shooting and saw Azuaje-Perez picking up shell casing and throwing them.

Nixon told police “he picked up shell casings” because he didn’t want the police to think he was “involved in the shooting.”

Aurora Police alleged in the same court document that Azuaje-Perez intentionally picked up the shell casings to “cover for those involved in the shooting.”

He was charged with tampering of evidence, in what advocates describe as a cultural difference and misunderstanding.

“In some Latin American countries where the police have a reputation of corruption – meaning that they take bribes or cover up certain crimes if they make the government look bad and where there are also strong networks of organized crime – if a crime occurs where you live, the safest thing for you to do is to move evidence so that organized crime doesn’t target you for working with the police and so the police don’t just pin the crime on you,” Piper said. “So, it’s a very common occurrence, especially in Venezuela.”

Aurora Police have previously claimed that Azuaje-Perez was a “suspected” TdA member, though when asked Wednesday by 9NEWS, they said he not considered a confirmed TdA member.

For more on this story, and others, visit The Denver Gazette’s news partners 9NEWS.