In the Sept. 10 presidential debate, Donald Trump made claims about immigrants causing harm to U.S. communities, saying that groups of them were taking over cities and even “eating the pets” of citizens. He named Aurora, Colorado, as one of the cities being negatively impacted by immigration — and suddenly, my hometown’s name became the subject of dozens of misleading headlines claiming that immigrants were responsible for the destruction of communities. Now, as president-elect, Trump has dubbed his upcoming immigration initiative “Operation Aurora,” which brings Aurora back into the public eye and has the potential to significantly impact my hometown and several other cities across America.Â
My family moved to Aurora, Colorado when I was 5 years old. I lived and went to school in Aurora for 13 years, and now I’m living here again as I attend grad school. Aurora is a large, diverse city with people of many different identities, career paths, and socioeconomic statuses. I know firsthand that Trump’s statements about Aurora are not just harmful to immigrant communities, they are simply incorrect.
So, as a longtime Aurora resident, I feel compelled to unpack Trump’s fixation on Aurora — namely, what Operation Aurora is and and why my beloved Colorado town has become the face of it.
Aurora, Colorado, has a high immigrant population.
Just south of Colorado’s capital, Denver, Aurora has a population of about 395,000 and is the state’s most diverse city, with citizens who have cultural backgrounds from all over the world. (For reference, the school district that I attended growing up has students from over 130 countries who speak over 160 languages.) Aurora is also home to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, which is both nationally and globally ranked as one of the best health sciences research institutions.
Aurora has a significant immigrant population; 21% of Aurora residents are foreign-born, and the city has ranked first in the state for its commitment to support immigration and be welcoming for any citizen seeking a better life.Despite this, Aurora has not been an inherently safe location for immigrants. Colorado currently has over 78,000 immigration cases pending, with the caseload extremely backed up, and Aurora itself even has an ICE Processing Center in the city because of the high volume of immigrants.
The city has recently been the face of anti-immigration rhetoric.
In July 2024, the President Joe Biden’s administration began taking action to halt the spread of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization. Tren de Aragua members had already been found in several U.S. states, including Colorado; law enforcement agencies identified 10 members in the Denver area, five of whom were arrested by early August.
Also in early August, Aurora officials were preparing to shut down the Aspen Grove apartment complex because of its “rapidly deteriorating” condition. The city claimed that there had been a history of negligence and code violations. The landlord, however, claimed that the building was being shut down because it was being taken over by Venezuelan gangs like Tren de Aragua.
However, the landlord was proven incorrect when city officials confirmed that Aspen Grove was not shut down for gang-related reasons, but because of poor living conditions. To be clear, a video had gone viral on social media of gang activity occurring at another Aurora apartment, the Edge of Lowry complex. But even still, while there was gang activity from members of Tren de Aragua occurring in Aurora, there was no reason for officials to believe buildings were being “taken over,” especially not in the Aspen Grove complex.Â
However, the damage of the false claim was already done, as it contributed to dangerous rhetoric being spread about immigrants in Aurora. Hysterics about Venezuelan gangs taking over apartment buildings even spread to now-President-elect Trump himself, who then continued to spread it in the September 2024 presidential debate, saying, “You look at Aurora in Colorado. [Immigrants] are taking over the towns. They’re taking over buildings.”
Many of the tenants who were forced out of their Aspen Grove apartments were Venezuelan, and according to Sentinel Colorado, some of these tenants were worried that they would be profiled as Tren de Aragua members just because of their nationality. Both of the mayors of Denver and Aurora acknowledged that the rhetoric being spread about immigrants was causing unnecessary hysteria. Aurora’s mayor, Republican Mike Coffman, made a statement about Trump’s claims on Sept. 11, saying, “The impression is that the city was overrun, you know … by immigrants and Venezuelan gangs. And certainly, that is not the case.”
So, what is “Operation Aurora”?
As we all know by now, Trump won the 2024 election and will begin his second term in January 2025. His plans for immigration once he is back in the Oval Office include mass deportations, a border wall expansion, and ending birthright citizenship. Trump has also pledged to carry out “Operation Aurora,” which is a plan to deport every immigrant in the U.S. who has a tie to gangs. According to a local news organization, Denverite, to do this, Trump said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, an act that gives the president the power to detain non-citizens in war times. This act has been invoked several times in U.S. history, most recently during World War II to detain Japanese, Hungarian, and Italian immigrants. Congress, presidents, and courts have since apologized for the deplorable treatment Japanese citizens received during internment, which, to many, is a clear and highly alarming indicator that invoking this act could cause harm to many communities within the U.S.
It’s uncertain what Trump’s next term in office will look like, but it is likely to have severe consequences for immigrants across the country, including in Aurora.