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topicnews · October 11, 2024

Immigration takes center stage at Trump’s Colorado rally: 3 takeaways

Immigration takes center stage at Trump’s Colorado rally: 3 takeaways

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Former President Donald Trump ratcheted up his anti-immigrant rhetoric during a rally Friday in Aurora, Colorado, repeating debunked claims that the city has become a “war zone” teeming with violent Venezuelan gang members.

Speaking at the luxurious Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, where room rates are nearly $400 a night, Trump described Aurora as a crime-ridden community and blamed Vice President Kamala Harris’ immigration policies for creating the problem.

“We are finally here in Aurora, Colorado, to draw the world’s attention to one of the most egregious betrayals ever inflicted by a nation’s leader on his own people,” Trump said, falsely claiming that Harris was “importing” undocumented immigrants from “the dungeons of the third world”.

Less than a month before the election, the Colorado poll freeze marked an unusual break from swing-state stumping — particularly for a GOP candidate. Colorado has not had a Republican presidential nomination since 2004.

More: Send us your political questions: Join Your Vote, our election news group

But the visit gave Trump an opportunity to highlight one of his central and most successful campaign themes: combating immigration. It came more than a month after the former president named Aurora, along with Springfield, Ohio as hotbeds for illegal immigration during the September presidential debate.

“I will save Aurora and every city that has been invaded and conquered,” Trump told the crowd. “We will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in prison or expel them from our country.”

Here are USA TODAY’s key takeaways from Friday’s speech.

Attack on migrants

Trump announced a new plan called “Operation Aurora” to remove undocumented immigrants associated with gangs using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

“We will deploy elite units of ice, border patrol and federal law enforcement officers to arrest and deport every last member of an illegal alien gang until there is not a single one left in this country,” Trump told the crowd.

He also called for the death penalty to be imposed on any migrant who kills an American citizen or law enforcement officer.

Trump has been trying for weeks to stoke fears that migrants have caused a crime wave in small towns across the United States. Aurora has become the focus of these efforts.

In the September presidential debate, Trump claimed that Haitian migrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, a claim also made by fellow incumbent Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. However, Springfield’s mayor and local police said there were no credible reports of it.

Trump also claimed during the debate that members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were taking over Aurora, a Denver suburb with a population of 400,000. The allegations emerged from a viral video clip that showed armed men at an apartment complex in Aurora.

More: Why Trump’s immigration reform proposals face legal and feasibility concerns

Aurora police arrested 10 people connected to the gang last month on charges ranging from assault to shooting. But police and the city’s Republican mayor, Mike Coffman, have dismissed claims that the gang and other migrants have caused widespread crime in the city.

“The reality is that concerns about Venezuelan gang activity are completely overblown,” Coffman said in a Facebook post ahead of Trump’s arrival. “The incidents were limited to several apartment complexes in this city of more than 400,000 residents.”

Blue State Lightning

Trump’s rally marked the first time that one of the major presidential candidates set foot in solidly blue Colorado this election season. It is one of just several stops in Democratic strongholds that the Republican presidential candidate is making in the run-up to the election.

Trump is expected to campaign on Saturday in Coachella, California, a city in Harris’ predominantly Democratic home state, and hold a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City later this month. He also plans to visit Chicago with Vance next week.

Trump said Friday he believes Colorado is in play in 2024. He has made similar claims about New York, despite trailing Harris by double digits in both states.

However, his visits could help Republican House candidates win races. There’s a close matchup in Colorado’s 8th District, formerly held by Rep. Lauren Boebert, and another in California’s 14th District, near Coachella.

Trump’s appearances in blue states could also be part of a broader strategy to highlight places where he believes Democratic policies have failed and to court key voter groups such as Latinos.

“Kamala Harris’ dangerously liberal policies have failed Americans across the country – from the Bronx to Coachella to Aurora – which is why President Trump is bringing his America First message and vision for hardworking families right to their doorsteps,” said RNC- Spokeswoman Anna Kelly told USA TODAY in a statement. Trump held a rally in the Bronx, New York, where he brought rappers accused of gang crimes on stage.

Another benefit of stumping in unusual environments? Media attention. A masterful showman, Trump could turn even more heads at big-name venues and unorthodox stops in the final days of the campaign.

A violent backdrop

Before Aurora came into the national spotlight on immigration, it was at the center of another hot debate: gun violence.

More: When Donald Trump returns to Butler, Pennsylvania, there is one name he never mentions: Thomas Crooks

In 2012, 12 people were killed and 70 others were injured when a gunman opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.” The tragedy was one of the now numerous mass shootings that have sparked an ongoing political debate about gun violence in the United States

After two assassination attempts against Trump in the last six months, this debate has taken on new resonance in this election. Both presidential candidates have called for lowering the political temperature in the country, but neither has changed much in their rhetoric.

Trump used dark and sometimes violent rhetoric on Friday to describe the immigration of migrants to the United States

“You can’t live with these people. They are stone-cold killers,” he once said.

Contribution: Reuters

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