The former president said he would invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to crack down on illegal immigrant gangs.
At a large rally in Aurora, Colorado, former President Donald Trump expanded on his vision for mass deportation, saying he would use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as a tool.
“We will have an Operation Aurora at the federal level to expedite the removals of these savage gangs,” Trump said, adding that the operation would “target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil.”
He said his own “Operation Aurora” was named after the Colorado community where he spoke, as was a similar effort by law enforcement in San Antonio. Like Aurora, San Antonio has been roiled by the transnational Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, or TDA.
The Alien Enemies Act was passed at a time when the young United States was on the brink of war with France. It authorizes the detention of noncitizens under certain circumstances, including “any invasion or predatory incursion … perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States, by any foreign nation or government.”
It was invoked during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II.
“We will send elite squads of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], Border Patrol, and federal law enforcement officers to hunt down, arrest, and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left in this country,” Trump pledged, drawing cheers from the crowd. He added that any of them who returned would be liable to a 10-year prison sentence without parole.
“I’m hereby calling for the death penalty for any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer,” Trump said.
Midway through his remarks, Trump invited onto the stage Cindy Romero, who had captured viral video of criminal activity in her Aurora apartment building that vaulted the community to widespread media attention.
“This isn’t just affecting me, this is affecting all of you as well,” Romero said on stage, urging the crowd to reelect the man who stood behind her.
The Epoch Times reached out to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign for comment.
The line to get inside the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center stretched for at least a mile.
