Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for the death penalty for migrants who kill US citizens or members of law enforcement, as part of an incendiary demonstration in Aurora, Colorado.
In his speech Friday night, Trump, a former president, repeated false and misleading claims about immigrants in the United States, leaning on nativist sentiment as he campaigns for a second term.
“Now America is known around the world as occupied America,” he said at the rally, citing an alleged “invasion” of immigrants.
Trump also laid out a stark vision for his first days in office, if re-elected, with policy proposals based on mass deportation.
“To everyone here in Colorado and across our nation, I make this promise: November 5, 2024 will be liberation day in America,” he said, referring to Election Day.
Trump has repeatedly tried to demonize immigrants in the run-up to the vote, pointing to an increase in southern border crossings under the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
But critics have drawn parallels between Trump's incendiary rhetoric and language historically used by white supremacist movements.
A town in the national spotlight
Trump's campaign stop in Aurora was about to raise fears about immigration: He has long used the city as an example of supposed immigrant lawlessness.
The city has been besieged by misinformation in recent months, as rumors circulated that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had seized control of parts of the city.
Those claims were false. Media reports indicated they emerged after a property management company, facing accusations of decrepit conditions in its apartment buildings, blamed the presence of gangs for the lack of repairs.
However, Trump and his allies have continued to repeat the false rumors, despite opposition from local officials.
Before Friday's rally, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, said in a statement on Facebook, “concerns about Venezuelan gang activity have been wildly exaggerated.”
Only a handful of incidents involving the Tren de Aragua gang have been reported in the city of 400,000, he added.
“Former President Trump's visit to Aurora is an opportunity to show him and the nation that Aurora is a significantly safe city, not a city overrun by Venezuelan gangs,” Coffman said.
Additionally, several studies have shown that undocumented immigrants are much less likely to be arrested for serious and violent crimes than U.S.-born citizens.
Statistics from the Aurora Police Department have also shown that serious crimes in the city have decreased since last year.
Preview of a second term
Still, Trump repeated his false accusations on Friday, promising to “rescue” Aurora and other cities from an “invasion” of migrants.
“We will begin the largest deportation operation in American history,” Trump said. “We will close the border. We will stop the invasion of illegals into our country. We will defend our territory. “We will not be conquered.”
The Republican candidate also invoked racist and xenophobic stereotypes, including that immigrants were likely to carry diseases.
“They are very sick, very sick. They are entering our country. “They are very, very sick with highly contagious diseases and they are being allowed into our country to infect it,” Trump said.
His speech included references to what he would do in his first days back in the White House if he wins the November election.
“I am announcing today that upon taking office, we will have Operation Aurora at the federal level to accelerate the removal of these savage gangs,” Trump said.
Part of the plan, he explained, was to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, an antiquated law that allows the federal government to arrest and deport foreigners from a country with which the United States is at war.
Trump later added that he would seek harsh penalties for immigrants involved in crimes.
“I hereby call for the death penalty for any migrant who kills an American citizen or law enforcement officer,” he said, to applause from the crowd.
The race enters the final phase
The Aurora rally comes as Trump and his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, enter the final stretch of the election season, just 23 days before the vote.
Trump has long promoted anti-immigrant sentiment, even before his first successful run for president in 2016.
In the early and mid-2010s, he spread conspiracy theories about former President Barack Obama's citizenship and whether the Democratic leader was secretly Muslim.
When he announced his candidacy for president in 2016, Trump campaigned in part on describing Mexican immigrants as “rapists.” That rhetoric continued throughout his term, which ended in 2021.
Experts have warned that dehumanizing language about migrants and foreigners can increase the likelihood of violence.
But polls consistently show that immigration is one of the top electoral issues in the United States, making it fertile ground for politicians.
Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, have focused intensely on the issue as the November election approaches.
They have tried to paint Harris as a “border czar” – a false designation – who left the United States with “open borders” vulnerable to mass immigration.
While crossings at the southern border increased under the Biden administration (reaching 250,000 crossings in the month of December 2023), they have since returned to numbers similar to those seen during the Trump administration.
Speaking to Latino voters during a Univision town hall on Thursday, Harris defended the Biden administration's immigration policy. He pointed to a recent bipartisan bill that would have tightened restrictions at the border.
The bill was reportedly scuttled by Republicans loyal to Trump, allegedly at the former president's behest.
Still, critics say Harris has moved even further to the right on immigration issues. During a visit to Arizona last month, he promised to impose stricter asylum restrictions than Biden, who has already taken steps to limit asylum claims.
Meanwhile, Trump and Vance have targeted communities in cities like Aurora and Springfield, Ohio, to promote apocalyptic claims about immigration.
Last month, for example, the Republican ticket amplified unfounded claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were killing and eating pets. State and local officials repeatedly said there was no evidence to support the claims and called on Trump to stop spreading falsehoods.
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