Aurora: Trump rambles about death penalty for migrants

Former President Donald Trump has announced drastic measures to take action against gang members from abroad if he is re-elected. “America is everywhere in the world as ‘Occupied America’ known. You name it ‘occupied’. “We are being occupied by a criminal force,” Trump said in the city of Aurora. “But to everyone here in Colorado and across our nation, I make this promise and this oath: November 5th will be the day of liberation in America.”

A video that went viral and was widely shown by right-wing media was filmed in Aurora showing armed Latinos rioting in an apartment building. As a result, false and generalized statements arose that the city just outside Denver was being terrorized by Latin American immigrants – which in turn fueled Trump’s campaign message, which said that the USA was being overrun by “savages” and “animals”.

The former president called his Democratic rival Kamala Harris a “criminal” in Aurora and made the false claim that Venezuelan gangs in Colorado had been allowed to shoot at police officers. He spoke darkly of the “enemy within,” which he defined as “all the scum we’re dealing with who hate our country.” If Harris were to be president for four years, “200 million people” would come to the country, Trump said. The country would be “at the end”.

Trump is relying on law from the 18th century

Trump assured the audience that he would use a law from 1789 to fight criminal immigrant gangs. This allows the US government to round up and deport foreigners coming from a country with which the US is at war. Trump spoke of a mass deportation operation that he dubbed “Operation Aurora.” If criminals try to return to the United States after being deported, they “automatically face ten years in prison without parole,” Trump said. He also calls for the “death penalty for any migrant who kills an American citizen (…).”

The number of people crossing the southern border illegally is currently about the same level as in 2020, the last year of Trump’s presidency. In December 2023, the number of arrivals was at a peak of 250,000 people.

Violent crime skyrocketed during Trump’s time in office – but has fallen every year under US President Joe Biden’s administration. Immigrants commit proportionately fewer crimes in the United States than the rest of the population – although immigrants have been named as suspects in some high-profile cases of violent attacks on women and children. This caused an uproar among many Republicans.

Rival Harris sends opposite message

Local police in Aurora told AFP this week that they had only isolated reports of activity by a Venezuelan street gang called Tren de Aragua. Aurora’s Republican Mayor Mike Coffman called Trump’s claims “greatly exaggerated” and offered to give the presidential candidate a tour of Aurora. He spoke of a “safe city – not a city that will be overrun by Venezuelan gangs.”

US Vice President Harris, meanwhile, continued her campaign in Scottsdale, Arizona, with a contrasting message of unity. She promised to create a “bipartisan council of advisors” and add a Republican to her Cabinet.

There have been “some powerful forces in our country” in recent years “that are trying to divide us as Americans,” said Harris. “We have more in common than what divides us.”

Harris and Trump are neck and neck in the polls for the November 5th election. A recent Wall Street Journal poll showed Harris with a narrow lead in four of the seven most battleground states, but all were within the margin of error.