Trump announces “Operation Aurora” to target illegal immigrant gang members in Colorado

Former President Trump detailed his “Operation Aurora” — a federal program to remove illegal immigrant members of the dangerous transnational Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua — during his rally Friday afternoon in Colorado.

Trump held a rally in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday where he formally proposed the removal program. The program is expected to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle “any illegal criminal migrant network operating on American soil.”

“My message today is very simple,” Trump said Friday. “No one who inflicted the violence and terror that Kamala Harris inflicted on this community should ever become president of the United States.”

Trump told the crowd in Aurora: “Colorado will vote for me because I will make Colorado safe again. We will make you safe. We will do it quickly.”

“I am announcing today that once I take office, we will conduct a federal Operation Aurora to expedite the removal of these savage bands, and I will be invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Remember the one from 1798. That was published there in 1790. Yes, that was a long time ago. Trump said on Friday. “To target and dismantle every criminal migrant network operating on American soil.”

He added: “Who would have ever thought that a president or a future president would ever have to stand here and say things like that?”

Trump said “so many things” have changed since he left office and criticized President Biden and Vice President Harris for “completely destroying our country.”

“We are a country in enormous need. We are a failing country. We are left behind all over the world,” he said.

Trump said that if elected, the federal government would “deploy elite units of ICE, Border Patrol and federal law enforcement officers to hunt down, arrest and deport every last member of an illegal alien gang until there is not a single one left in this country.”

“And when they return to our country, they will be told that it is an automatic 10-year prison sentence with no possibility of parole,” Trump said.

The former president also said he would “demand the death penalty for any migrant who kills an American citizen or law enforcement officer.”

“With your vote, we will achieve complete victory over these sadistic monsters,” Trump said.

Surveillance footage showed suspected members of the Venezuela-based transnational gang Tren de Aragua possibly carrying weapons shared by the El Paso County District Attorney's Office at the Gateway Hotel. (KFOX14/El Paso County District Attorney's Office)

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The announcement came after members of Tren de Aragua were caught on camera last month entering an Aurora apartment armed with rifles and handguns and threatening the tenant at gunpoint. Shortly afterwards, they opened fire on a 25-year-old man outside the building and fatally shot him. All three individuals identified are illegal aliens who were in Border Patrol custody but were later released into the United States

According to the El Paso County District Attorney's Office, the alleged Tren de Aragua gang members were involved in illegal activities, including illegal dumping and drug use. (KFOX14/El Paso County District Attorney's Office)

The Trump campaign also points to the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was kidnapped, tied up and attacked under a bridge for two hours before she was allegedly killed by two gang members.

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A campaign official said police arrested more than a dozen members of Tren de Aragua just this week, who took over another apartment complex in San Antonio, Texas, and terrorized its residents.

Pointing to newly released ICE data, the campaign manager said there are currently 13,099 illegal alien convicted murderers at large in the United States “under border czar Kamala Harris.”

The gang is believed to have originated in Venezuelan prisons and moved north in the last decade. But their profile in the U.S. has grown this year, due in part to a series of high-profile crimes linked to the gang, with many believing they came across the southern border amid a surge in migration in recent years are .

A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) alerted agents to tattoos and other identifying features of the gang in a March bulletin. Federal authorities had previously warned that the gang was trying to establish itself in the United States and could potentially work with the violent MS-13 gang.

In February, New York officials linked the gang to more than 62 robberies in the city, and two suspected gang members were arrested in connection with a shocking heist two NYPD officers.

The brother of the suspect in the murder of Georgia student Laken Riley has ties to the gang, and 10 migrants linked to the gang were arrested in Texas in early May.

The gang has established a significant presence in Parts of Colorado. Fox News Digital reported in July that TdA members had been given the “green light” to shoot or attack law enforcement in Denver.

There have been recent reports that the gang has taken over at least two residences in Aurora. Surveillance video shows heavily armed men kicking in an apartment door. Aurora's mayor said on Fox News that there are “several buildings that are actually under the same ownership, outside of state ownership, that have fallen victim to these Venezuelan gangs.”

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The Biden administration announced major action against the gang in July, when the Treasury Department designated Tren de Aragua as a “significant transnational criminal organization.” This move blocks all of the gang's property and assets in the United States

Meanwhile, the State Department offered up to $12 million for information leading to the arrest of three of the gang's leaders. The government also stressed that it is working to dismantle the gang and has increased controls.