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Former president Donald Trump espoused more anti-immigration rhetoric at his rallies in Reno, Nevada and Aurora, Colorado on Friday, calling for the death penalty for migrants who kill American citizens and saying he would enact the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Trump repeated his false claims that migrants are committing mass violent crimes in the country and occupying cities, despite there being no evidence of ‘migrant crime’.
In Aurora, a city he often says has been taken over by Venezuelan gangs, Trump said he would institute the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as part of his “Operation Aurora” to “expedite the removals of the savage gangs.”
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the law gives the government detention and deportation power which poses “an alarming risk of abuse and rights violations in both wartime and peacetime.”
Mike Coffman, the Republican mayor of Aurora, released a statement after the former president’ brief visit saying “The city and state have not been ‘taken over’ or ‘invaded’ or ‘occupied’ by migrant gangs.”
“The concerns about Venezuelan gang activity in our city – and our state – have been grossly exaggerated and have unfairly hurt the city’s identity and sense of safety,” Coffman said.
