Trump proposes 'Operation Aurora,' escalates migrant rhetoric at Colo. rally: 3 takeaways

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

Speaking at the luxury Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, where rooms cost close to $400 a night, Trump described Aurora as a community being ravaged by crime and blamed Vice President Kamala Harris’ immigration policies for creating the problem.

“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,” Trump said, falsely alleging that Harris “imported” undocumented immigrants from 'the dungeons of the third world.'”

With less than a month to go until the election, the Colorado stop marked an unusual break from swing state stumping – particularly for a GOP candidate. Colorado hasn’t been carried by the Republican nominee for president since 2004.

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But the visit offered Trump an opportunity to amplify one of his central and most successful campaign issues: cracking down on immigration. It came more than a month after the ex-president name-checked Aurora, along with Springfield Ohio, as hotbeds for illegal immigration during the presidential debate in September.

"I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered," Trump told the crowd. "We will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our country."

Here are USA TODAY's top takeaways from Friday’s speech.

Attacking migrants

Trump announced a new plan – dubbed “Operation Aurora” – to remove undocumented immigrants connected to gangs, using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

“We will send elite squads of Ice, Border Patrol and federal law enforcement officers to arrest and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left in this country,” Trump told the crowd.

He also called for the death penalty to be used for any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer.

Trump has for weeks sought to sow anxiety that migrants have caused a wave of crime across small towns and cities in the U.S. Aurora has become central to those efforts.

In the September presidential debate, Trump alleged that Haitian migrants were eating pets in Springfield Ohio, a claim his running Sen. JD Vance of Ohio also promoted. But the mayor of Springfield and local police have said there have been no credible reports of this happening.

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

More: Why Trump's immigration-reform proposals come with legal, feasibility concerns

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

“The reality is that the concerns about Venezuelan gang activity have been grossly exaggerated,” 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 blitz

Trump’s rally marked the first time either major presidential candidate has stepped foot in solidly-blue Colorado this election season. It’s one of just several stops in Democratic strongholds that the Republican presidential nominee is making in the runup to the election.

Trump is slated to campaign in Coachella, Calif., a city in Harris’ overwhelmingly Democratic home state, on Saturday and is holding a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City later this month. He’s also planning to visit Chicago next week with Vance.

Trump said Friday that he believed Colorado was in play in 2024. He’s made similar claims about New York, though he is trailing Harris in both states by double digit margins.

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

Trump’s blue states appearances may also be part of a larger strategy to highlight places where he believes Democratic policies have failed and court key voting demographics such as Latinos.

“Kamala Harris’ dangerously liberal policies have failed Americans across the country—from the Bronx, to Coachella, and Aurora—which is why President Trump is bringing his America First message and vision for hardworking families right to their front door,” RNC spokesperson Anna Kelly told USA TODAY in a statement. Trump held a rally in the Bronx, N.Y. at which he brought rappers facing felony gang charges on stage.

Another benefit of stumping in unusual settings? Media attention. Ever the master showman, Trump could garner more buzz in the final days of the campaign at big-name venues and unorthodox stops.

A violent backdrop

Before Aurora entered the national spotlight around immigration it was at the center of another hot-button debate: gun violence.

More: As Donald Trump returns to Butler, Pa., there’s one name he never mentions: Thomas Crooks

In 2012, 12 people were killed and 70 more were wounded when a gunman opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora during a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." The tragedy was one of the now many mass shootings that have sparked an ongoing political debate about gun violence in the U.S.

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

Trump leaned into dark, and at times violent rhetoric, on Friday to describe migrants coming into the U.S.

“You can't live with these people. These are stone-cold killers,” he said at one point.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Immigration takes center stage at Trump's Colo. rally: 3 takeaways