Trump Announces Program That Would Invoke 1798 Alien Enemies Act to Target Illegal Alien Gangs

  

Former President Trump is expected to reveal details of his “Operation Aurora” program during a rally in Colorado on Friday afternoon. The federal-level program would remove “every illegal migrant criminal network operating on American soil,” including illegal alien members of the dangerous Venezuelan street gang, Tren de Aragua, a senior Trump campaign official told Fox News Digital. 

As the New York Post exclusively reported in late September, the vicious gang lures desperate women deep into the US, “forcing them to sell their bodies on the streets of American cities to pay off exorbitant smuggling fees,” a newly leaked law enforcement document reveals.

ALSO READ: Venezuelan Gang Tren de Aragua Linked to Immigrant Sex Trafficking in Eight States

In remarks at a campaign stop in September 2023, Trump pledged to use the Alien Enemies Act — part of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 — to target suspected gang members, drug dealers, and cartel members. 

I’ll … invoke immediately the Alien Enemies Act to remove all known or suspected gang members…the drug dealers, the cartel members from the United States, ending the scourge of illegal alien gang violence once and for all.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 is a wartime authority that allows the president to detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation. 

The law permits the president to target these immigrants without a hearing and based only on their country of birth or citizenship. Although the law was enacted to prevent foreign espionage and sabotage in wartime, it can be — and has been — wielded against immigrants who have done nothing wrong, have evinced no signs of disloyalty, and are lawfully present in the United States. It is an overbroad authority that may violate constitutional rights in wartime and is subject to abuse in peacetime.

The Trump campaign’s announcement of Operation Aurora came after members of the street gang were caught on camera in September, armed with rifles and handguns as they forced their way into an apartment in Aurora, Colorado, and threatened the tenant at gunpoint.  

Here’s more:

Shortly after, they opened fire on a 25-year-old man outside the building, fatally shooting him. Of the three identified, all three are illegal aliens who were in Border Patrol custody but later released into the U.S.

Let’s repeat that last line, with emphasis, shall we? Of the three identified, all three are illegal aliens who were in Border Patrol custody but later released into the U.S.

Is it any surprise? And is it any surprise that there are multiple similar stories across America?

More:

The Trump campaign also points to the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was kidnapped, tied up, and assaulted for two hours under a bridge before she was allegedly killed by two of the gang members.

The campaign official said police just this week arrested over a dozen members of Tren de Aragua who had taken over yet another apartment complex in San Antonio, Texas and terrorized its residents.

Pointing to newly published data from ICE, the campaign official said there are now 13,099 illegal alien convicted murderers at large in the United States “under Border Czar Kamala Harris.”

While multiple incidents of violence committed by Tren de Aragua have been documented, Trump’s claims about the street gang’s level of violence in Aurora have been challenged, including by the city’s mayor.

False Claims?

According to the Sentinel in Aurora, Mayor Mike Coffman said: “Aurora is a considerably safe city – not a city overrun by Venezuelan gangs.” 

Coffman issued a statement on his Facebook page criticizing the former president over his comments, “without any evidence,” that crime was on the rise due to Venezuelan illegals.

Former President Trump’s visit to Aurora is an opportunity to show him and the nation that Aurora is a considerably safe city – not a city overrun by Venezuelan gangs. My public offer to show him our community and meet with our police chief for a briefing still stands. The reality is that the concerns about Venezuelan gang activity have been grossly exaggerated. The incidents were limited to several apartment complexes in this city of more than 400,000 residents.

Hold the bus. 

So… a vicious illegal alien Venezuelan street gang that lures desperate Venezuelan women into prostitution in return for smuggling them into the US commits crimes in several apartment complexes, and the city’s mayor calls reports of those crimes “grossly exaggerated”? What the?

City spokesman Ryan Luby told the Sentinel that it is the city’s and Aurora Police Department’s responsibility, not Trump’s, “to ensure a safe visit and mitigate risks, regardless of the associated costs.” 

Look, if I were Trump, I’d tell Aurora city officials — very publicly — “Fine; we’ll focus our efforts only on other cities impacted by violence committed by illegal alien gangs,” and move on.