
(Scypre.com) – Former President Donald Trump is set to announce a new federal program called “Operation Aurora” during his rally in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday afternoon. The program is designed to address the growing threat posed by illegal immigrant members of the Venezuelan transnational gang, Tren de Aragua. A senior Trump campaign official told Fox News Digital that this initiative will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to specifically target and dismantle illegal migrant criminal networks that have spread across the United States.
🚨 NEW: President Trump will be announcing “OPERATION AURORA” today in Colorado, which will force the removal of illegal migrant members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TDA)
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 11, 2024
This is HUGE news 🔥
TDA has been staging violent takeovers of apartment complexes around… pic.twitter.com/yF4ld8jlLy
The planned announcement follows a series of violent incidents involving Tren de Aragua members. Last month, several gang members armed with rifles and handguns forced their way into an apartment in Aurora, threatening a tenant at gunpoint. Shortly after, they fatally shot a 25-year-old man outside the building. All three suspects were illegal immigrants who had previously been in Border Patrol custody but were released into the U.S. The Trump campaign also referenced the tragic case of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was kidnapped, assaulted, and murdered by alleged members of the gang.
In recent developments, police arrested over a dozen members of Tren de Aragua in San Antonio, Texas, where the gang had taken over an apartment complex and terrorized its residents. Trump’s campaign points to these incidents as evidence of the need for immediate action, citing newly released Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data indicating that there are currently 13,099 illegal alien convicted murderers at large in the U.S. under the leadership of Border Czar Kamala Harris.
Tren de Aragua, originally founded in Venezuelan prisons, has expanded its operations northward over the past decade, becoming increasingly prominent within the U.S. The gang’s reputation has grown in part due to several high-profile crimes, many of which involve members who crossed the southern border amid the surge in migration. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a bulletin in March alerting agents to gang tattoos and identifiers, while federal authorities had already warned that Tren de Aragua may be forming alliances with the violent MS-13 gang.
In New York, authorities connected the gang to over 62 robberies in the city. Additionally, two suspected gang members were arrested for a violent assault on two NYPD officers. Other notable cases include the murder of Georgia student Laken Riley, where the brother of the suspect has ties to the gang, and the arrest of ten gang-affiliated migrants in Texas in May.
In Colorado, the gang has established a stronghold, particularly in Aurora and Denver. Surveillance footage from recent months showed heavily armed gang members taking control of at least two apartment buildings in Aurora. Local officials, including the Aurora mayor, have expressed concern that several properties owned by out-of-state entities have become bases for these Venezuelan gangs.
While the Biden administration took action against Tren de Aragua in July by designating it a “significant transnational criminal organization,” which froze the gang’s assets in the U.S., and offering rewards of up to $12 million for information on its leaders, Trump’s campaign insists that more aggressive measures are needed. The administration has also pledged to increase vetting procedures and work to disrupt the gang’s operations, but critics argue that the problem has already reached critical levels.