The battering ram that tore through the Denver apartment door of Felicia Gurule’s family friend, “Pops,” left more than a mangled lock and splintered wood. It triggered questions in some quarters about constitutional boundaries of immigration raids — as well as defense by others of the federal crackdown.

Early that morning, federal agents shouted outside unit 301A, “DEA! Open the door!” Before anyone inside could respond, agents breached the door and tossed in a flashbang.

Officials with the Rocky Mountain Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have claimed they executed search warrants on Feb. 5 at the Cedar Run Apartments in south Denver, looking for “wanted drug traffickers.”

Federal agents from a joint operation that included DEA, the U.S. Immigration and C

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