Former President Donald Trump announced “Operation Aurora,” aimed at expediting the removal of all criminal networks operating in the United States, such as the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang. During a rally in Aurora, Colorado, Trump explained that if elected president, he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to “target and dismantle” all criminal networks operating in the country. He added that the border would be sealed, and the illegal immigration “invasion” would be stopped.
Trump’s announcement was made in honor of Jocelyn Nungaray, Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, and others who have lost their lives at the hands of migrants who should never have been allowed into the country. He vowed to initiate “Operation Aurora” at the federal level upon taking office to expedite the removals of these savage gangs and to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which would target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil.
As part of invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, Trump stated that all “illegal alien gang members” currently in the country would be found and deported. He emphasized that this would be a major national undertaking and cited newly published data from ICE showing that there are now “13,099 illegal aliens convicted of murder” who had been allowed into the U.S.
According to previously reported information by Breitbart News’s Neil Munro, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed in a letter to Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) that as of July 21, 2024, there were roughly “662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories” currently on ICE’s national docket. This number included migrants who were “detained by ICE, and on the agency’s non-detained docket.
During his speech, Trump referenced an article from the New York Times regarding how TdA gang members were sneaking into the U.S. among the millions of migrants who have crossed the border,” adding that the gang was “peddling drugs, guns, and women” throughout the nation. He also highlighted how the Tren de Aragua gang had received approval to shoot police officers in Colorado.
The Tren de Aragua gang is described as a transnational crime organization, known for engaging in criminal activities such as “homicide, abduction, extortion, drug trafficking, human smuggling, and human trafficking.” The gang has terrorized several cities in the U.S., including Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; and Dallas, Texas, among others.
In September, the Prairie du Chien Police Department announced that a man “suspected” of being affiliated with TdA had been arrested and charged with the alleged sexual and physical assault of a woman. Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has offered a $5,000 reward for any “information that leads to the identification and arrest of known or suspected members” of TdA. Abbott’s announcement of the reward came after he designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.