IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Absent, Illegally Assigned CBZ Lawyer Gets More Rights Than Displaced Tenant Families

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[CHECK OUT OUR GOFUNDME AT THE BOTTOM TO SUPPORT TENANTS STILL NEEDING RELOCATION SUPPORT!!!]

On Monday, January 13th, Housekeys Action Network Denver, The Redress Movement, and others gathered with tenants of CBZ buildings in Aurora and Denver to protest CBZ Management’s horrible neglect and mistreatment of their tenants, and the resultant wave of anti-immigrant rhetoric being echoed by local and national leaders.

Aurora tenant Juan Carlos Alvarado Jimenez shared receipts of payments and an official lease while standing with his partner and four children, describing the horrible conditions they had to endure, which left his children covered in bites from rodents and bedbugs. Denver tenant Natasha Barshalom White, known in the advocacy community for her work with the unhoused, described how her raising concerns about the conditions in her own building in Aurora caused Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky to reach out and connect her with CBZ so they could offer her a management position in attempts to quell her discontent. Barshalom White also echoed the harmful migrant narrative that has been perpetuated despite her and her neighbors being proof of the horrific conditions spanning across all CBZ properties outside of the fabricated “gang control” zone, and urgently demanded that viewers at home act now… Unfortunately, despite having solid media turnout at the rally, most didn’t cover these brave voices or the tenants’ demand for justice. The revolution will not be televised.

Once we entered the courthouse at 3pm for the case, our tenants and community members made up three times the capacity of the room, and with media filling most seats inside, the majority of folks had to go into a hard-to-hear overflow room to listen in. What ensued was ridiculous… CBZ had failed to properly follow the channels to switch lawyers after those formerly representing Zev Baumgartner’s case had dropped out. His new lawyer wasn’t present in the courtroom, and originally hadn’t appeared virtually either. It wasn’t until the Aurora City attorney happened to have the other lawyer’s personal cell number that the lawyer eventually joined, citing a medical emergency for his absence without excuse for his misfiling of paperwork. Additional documents hadn’t been submitted in time and the judge allowed for a 42-day grace period for this lawyer to present himself in a better light. Meanwhile, the City’s emergency affidavit was pushed through and decided, with no pushback from CBZ, such that the Edge of Lowry buildings are set to be condemned halfway through February.

42 days for a rich man’s illegally assigned lawyer. 28 days for hundreds of poor, hard working community members and their children to uproot their lives and, despite a world of barriers against them, find somewhere to live. 

No poor person could ever hope for that favorable outcome if they had the same representation in court… Such a display would easily land them back in jail and worsen their position, however this felt like a slap on the wrist between bureaucrats who did not for a moment consider the hundreds of lives they were affecting. 

It is shameful that after this hearing, the press – the supposed voice of the people – elected to promote the narrative from Mayor Coffman and others that the residents of Edge of Lowry are criminals, and effectively exonerated CBZ in spite of its years of complaints, abuse, and evasion from responsibility preceding the recent rise in migration. The Fourth Estate failed the people of Aurora in conceding to the status quo instead of questioning the validity of its story, even with enormous evidence that CBZ Management is the source of its own problems, not the communities who have been their victims.

Additionally, the Edge of Lowry community remains traumatized and horrified after the midnight raid on December 17th that detained many of their loved ones under the guise of an “investigation”, and while 9 of the original 19 detained are still “under investigation”, around 4-6 individuals that we know of are STILL being held under ICE custody without any criminal charges associated. While the police department is eager to publish the names of those being investigated, they eerily omit the identities of those still detained, attempting to hide their mess and hope the public doesn’t notice. Loved ones are desperate for immigration litigation support, which can cost thousands of dollars per case that most of them don’t have readily available. The entire justice system has failed them time and time again, stripping their rights as tenants and as humans in ways that white, rich citizens would never accept. We MUST fight for their freedom and denounce the money-making immigrant detention machine as a racist branch of corporate America that profits off the incarceration of those escaping starvation and violence in their home country.

We demand that the media does its civic duty and hold the powerful accountable while defending poor and working class communities. It is more important than ever that the people’s voices be heard and that the wealthy be held responsible for their abuses. We hope you will stand with us in this fight.

CALL-TO-ACTION: Check out our GoFundMe for how much has been spent in relocation support so far & donate to protect those still in need!!! https://gofund.me/19160efb

Media contacts:

• Jon Marcantoni, Redress Movement – 719-646-8361, jmarcantoni@redressmovement.org 
• V Reeves, Housekeys Action Network Denver, 701-484-2634, info@housekeysactionnetwork.com