Trump promises mass deportations, starting in Aurora

DENVER (KDVR) — City leaders are responding to Donald Trump’s comments that if reelected, he would start mass deportations in Aurora.

On Friday, Trump said that if he wins the presidency again, he will order the largest deportation in U.S. history — and it will start in Aurora.

There’s a lot to break down and misinformation to set straight.

“We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country, and we’re going to start with Springfield and Aurora, OK?” Trump said of the cities in Ohio and Colorado.

The former president did not say how those deportations might work or how law enforcement would identify people who are in the U.S. illegally. He also continued to make unfounded claims that violent migrant gangs are taking over U.S. cities, just as he did in the debate three nights ago .

This includes Springfield, Ohio, about which he made baseless claims that immigrants were eating families’ dogs and cats.

There is also disinformation and misinformation circulating about migrants here in Colorado.

More than 40,000 migrants have arrived in the Denver metro area in the last couple of years. In Denver and Aurora, crime rates — including murder and violent crimes — have decreased in that time .

That said, a video from Aurora that went viral shows members of violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua — according to Department of Homeland Security sources to NewsNation — with guns and trying to get into an apartment on 12th Avenue and Dallas Street.

Some, including Trump and without proof, have said the gang is taking over the city. But Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican and former congressman, continues to say this is an isolated issue that police are addressing .

The city of Aurora sent a statement on Friday: “It is the responsibility of the appropriate federal authorities to enforce immigration law. APD’s focus is the enforcement of state and local law. Beyond this, we are not in a position to engage in speculation.”

Aurora City Council Member Danielle Jurinsky said she would welcome help from the national level.

“We cannot move forward without federal assistance. It’s just, it’s too much,” Jurinsky said.

Jurinsky said she hopes Trump’s plans would focus specifically on gang members and not the migrants who are here legally.

“The ones that are here that have committed crimes, that are in and out of our jails, that are currently held in the ICE detention facility, it would be great. It would be great to have some federal help in getting them out of here,” Jurinsky said.

This week, the Aurora Police Department said investigators had identified 10 violent suspects as members of TdA , eight of whom have been arrested while police search for two more.

Raquel Lane-Arellano with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition believes, however, that any mass deportation would likely go beyond convicted criminals.

“Whenever immigration policy is passed, it will be enforced against typically the entire community. Everybody faces the consequences,” Lane-Arellano said.

Lane-Arrellano said previous attempts at mass deportation have caused fear in the migrant community that she does not want to see return.

“We don’t want a community where people are afraid to call the police when they’re suffering from domestic violence because they might get pulled into deportation proceedings,” she said.

FOX31 reached out to the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office to get their response to Trump’s deportation plans. This story will be updated with their response.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.