Let $U$ be a smooth affine curve over a number field $K$ with a compactification $X$ and let ${\mathbb {L}}$ be a rank $2$, geometrically irreducible lisse $\overline {{\mathbb {Q}}}_\ell$-sheaf on $U$ with cyclotomic determinant that extends to an integral model, has Frobenius traces all in some fixed number field $E\subset \overline {\mathbb {Q}}_{\ell }$, and has bad, infinite reduction at some closed point $x$ of $X\setminus U$. We show that ${\mathbb {L}}$ occurs as a summand of the cohomology of a family of abelian varieties over $U$. The argument follows the structure of the proof of a recent theorem of Snowden and Tsimerman, who show that when $E=\mathbb {Q}$, then ${\mathbb {L}}$ is isomorphic to the cohomology of an elliptic curve $E_U\rightarrow U$.

Let $X$ be an irreducible complex-analytic variety, ${\mathcal{S}}$ a stratification of $X$ and ${\mathcal{F}}$ a holomorphic vector bundle on the open stratum ${X\unicode[STIX]{x0030A}}$. We give geometric conditions on ${\mathcal{S}}$ and ${\mathcal{F}}$ that produce a natural lift of the Chern class $\operatorname{c}_{k}({\mathcal{F}})\in H^{2k}({X\unicode[STIX]{x0030A}};\mathbb{C})$ to $H^{2k}(X;\mathbb{C})$, which, in the algebraic setting, is of Hodge level ${\geqslant}k$. When applied to the Baily–Borel compactification $X$ of a locally symmetric variety ${X\unicode[STIX]{x0030A}}$ and an automorphic vector bundle ${\mathcal{F}}$ on ${X\unicode[STIX]{x0030A}}$, this refines a theorem of Goresky–Pardon. In passing we define a class of simplicial resolutions of the Baily–Borel compactification that can be used to define its mixed Hodge structure. We use this to show that the stable cohomology of the Satake ($=$ Baily–Borel) compactification of ${\mathcal{A}}_{g}$ contains nontrivial Tate extensions.