By Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke
AURORA, Colorado (Reuters) - Donald Trump will hold an immigration-focused rally on Friday in Aurora, Colorado, a place the Republican presidential candidate has falsely depicted as a "war zone" overrun by Venezuelan gang members even as local officials deny the allegations.
Former President Trump has used the 400,000-person Denver suburb as a symbol of what he calls “migrant crime” that he says is a result of high levels of illegal immigration under Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his main election rival.
While studies show immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans, immigration is a top voter concern in the run-up to the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Trump has made false claims that immigrants are responsible for a wave of crimes in the U.S. as he intensifies dehumanizing rhetoric to describe immigrants.
"Aurora, Colorado has become a 'war zone' due to the influx of violent Venezuelan prison gang members from Tren de Aragua," the Trump campaign said in a statement announcing the rally.
During a Sept. 10 presidential debate with Harris, Trump claimed that members of Tren de Aragua controlled several dilapidated Aurora apartment complexes - allegations refuted by top city officials.
“They are taking over the towns. They're taking over buildings. They're going in violently,” Trump said. “These are the people that she and Biden let into our country.”
Trump made the comment alongside another prominent falsehood: that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people's pets, playing up a historical racist trope against immigrants of color.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican who initially repeated the takeover claims and then reversed course, said in a statement ahead of the rally that “concerns about Venezuelan gang activity have been grossly exaggerated” and welcomed Trump to tour the city.
V Reeves, a community organizer with the Housekeys Action Network, said residents are nervous about the Trump visit.
“They're worried about Trump supporters showing up and threatening them,” Reeves said.“We've seen people drive up in cars, waving guns in the air, saying that they want to kill all the Venezuelans.”
Trump and other Republicans have cast Tren de Aragua as a new and fearsome threat and have tried to link crimes by alleged members to high levels of illegal border crossings.
The White House and Treasury Department designated the gang - “Aragua Train,” in English - as a transnational criminal organization earlier this year, although Latin American law enforcement experts told Reuters there was no evidence of large-scale organization in the U.S.
Trump has focused on Aurora as part of a larger strategy that seeks to blame Biden and Harris for illegal border crossings. Harris toughened her stance on border security after becoming the Democratic nominee in August, and blames Trump for helping kill a bipartisan border security bill in Congress earlier this year.
VIRAL FOOTAGE
The dispute over gang activity in Aurora stems from an effort by the city to force the owner of several apartment complexes to address repairs, trash, pest infestations and other complaints.
The apartment buildings became popular with migrants arriving in the city because they did not require Social Security numbers, Ashley Cuber, an immigration attorney with clients in one of the buildings, told Reuters.
A public relations firm hired by the landlord, CBZ Management, said in early August that Tren de Aragua gang members had taken over the properties and that workers could not safely enter them, according to documents obtained by Reuters through a Colorado Open Records Act request.
CBZ Management did not respond to requests for comment.
The allegations gained national attention in late August when a clip of gun-toting men in one of the apartment buildings went viral, drawing national media and right-wing influencers to Aurora.
Cindy Romero, a former resident at the apartment complex captured the footage with her two security cameras and has since moved out. In an interview, Romero said she was a lifelong Democrat and voted for Biden in 2020, but that she has been leaning toward Trump this election because of her experience with crime. The Trump campaign invited her to Friday's rally, she said.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Aurora, Colorado and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Ross Colvin and Jonathan Oatis)
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