Former President Donald Trump hit the campaign trail in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday and unveiled plans for a national operation he would launch as president, aimed at deporting members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.
The "Operation Aurora" pledge was part of an 80-minute address he delivered at the Gaylord Rockies that focused heavily on the subject of illegal immigration. The stage was plastered with "deport illegals now" and "end migrant crime" signage as well as mugshots of TdA members recently arrested in Aurora.
"Operation Aurora" is the name apparently given to a local law enforcement effort in San Antonio, Texas, aimed at arresting TdA members who had purportedly infiltrated an apartment complex there. More than a dozen people were arrested in a sweep carried out last weekend, several of whom were confirmed TdA members, according to local media reports.
Trump on Friday vowed to implement the program at the federal level, saying he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that allows the president to deport any noncitizen who is from a country that the U.S. is at war with.
"We will send elite squads of ICE, Border Patrol, and federal law enforcement officers to hunt down, arrest and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left in this country," Trump said. "And if they come back into our country, they will be told it is an automatic 10-year sentence in jail with no possibility of parole."
He added that he would call for the death penalty for any immigrant who killed an American citizen or law enforcement officer.
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The former president spoke in Aurora after making Colorado's third-largest city the face of his staunch anti-illegal immigration stance. He has referred to the Denver suburb as a "war zone" during campaign rallies and amplified false claims that gang members had "taken over" buildings in the city.
Police have identified at least 10 TdA members operating in Aurora, but claims that those gang members have taken control of a set of apartment buildings, fueled by a viral video of armed men entering an apartment unit in August, have been debunked.
Still, he used Aurora — a hotel just inside city limits and miles from the apartment complexes that have become a focal point of his campaign, to be more specific — to paint a picture of what he says is a failed immigration system under the Biden-Harris administration.
"We're here finally, in Aurora, Colorado, to call the attention of the world [to] one of the most egregious betrayals that any leader in any nation has ever inflicted on its own people," he said.
Trump, speaking in a purple city in a reliably blue state, indicated he thought his campaign had a chance to earn the majority of the state's vote in November, something a Republican candidate hasn’t accomplished since 2004.
"This state has to flip Republican, it has to," Trump said to a roar of applause from the thousands on hand. "And I believe Colorado is... very close."
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Cindy Romero, whose doorbell camera captured the aforementioned apartment breach before she moved out of the Edge of Lowry complex, briefly took the stage during Trump's address.
"With Trump's help, we can take the state back over," she said. "We can make a difference."
Thousands of supporters remained in line outside the Gaylord Rockies even as Trump's speech began around 1:45 p.m. Friday. All of the tickets for the event — more than the capacity of the event space — were distributed quickly earlier this week when Trump's visit was announced.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman released a statement following the rally, echoing claims he's previously made to Scripps News Denver that Trump's characterization of Aurora was "grossly exaggerated."
The full statement reads:
"There were thousands of people who attended the rally today, some of whom might have visited Aurora for the first time, who were able to see firsthand the mischaracterizations of our great community. I am disappointed that the former president did not get to experience more of our city for himself.
I cannot overstate enough that nothing was said today that has not been said before and for which the city has not responded with the facts. Again, the reality is that the concerns about Venezuelan gang activity in our city – and our state – have been grossly exaggerated and have unfairly hurt the city’s identity and sense of safety. The city and state have not been “taken over” or “invaded” or “occupied” by migrant gangs. The incidents that have occurred in Aurora, a city of 400,000 people, have been limited to a handful of specific apartment complexes, and our dedicated police officers have acted on those concerns and will continue to do so."
