Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for the death penalty for migrants who kill United States citizens or members of law enforcement, as part of an incendiary rally in Aurora, Colorado.

In his Friday night speech, Trump, a former president, repeated false and misleading claims about immigrants in the US, leaning into nativist sentiment as he campaigns for a second term.

“Now America is known all throughout the world as occupied America,” he told the rally, citing a supposed “invasion” of migrants.

Trump also laid out a stark vision for his first days in office, if re-elected, with policy proposals hinged on mass deportation.

“To everyone here in Colorado and all across our nation, I make this pledge and vow to you: November 5, 2024, will be liberation day in America,” he said, with a reference to election day.

Trump has repeatedly sought to demonise migrants in the run-up to the vote, pointing to an increase in southern border crossings under the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

But critics have drawn parallels between Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and the language used historically by white supremacist movements.

A town in the national spotlight

Trump’s campaign stop in Aurora was poised to drum up fears of immigration: He has long used the city as an example of the alleged lawlessness of migrants.

The city has been besieged by misinformation in recent months, as rumours swirled that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had wrested control over parts of the city.

Those claims were false. Media reports indicated they arose after a property management company — faced with accusations of decrepit conditions in its apartment buildings — blamed a gang presence for the lack of repairs.

But Trump and his allies have nevertheless continued to repeat the false rumours, despite pushback from local officials.

Ahead of Friday’s rally, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, said in a statement on Facebook, “Concerns about Venezuelan gang activity have been grossly exaggerated.”

Only a handful of incidents related to the Tren de Aragua gang have been reported in the city of 400,000, he added.

“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,” Coffman said.

Furthermore, several studies have shown that undocumented migrants are far less likely to be arrested for felony and violent crimes than US-born citizens.

Aurora Police Department statistics have also shown that major crimes in the city have dropped since last year.

Preview of a second term

Regardless, Trump repeated his false accusations on Friday, promising to “rescue” Aurora and other cities from an “invasion” of migrants.

“We will begin the largest deportation operation in the history of the United States,” Trump said. “We will close the border. We will stop the invasion of illegals into our country. We will defend our territory. We will not be conquered.”

The Republican candidate also invoked racist and xenophobic stereotypes, including that migrants were likely to carry illness.

“They’re very sick, very sick. They’re coming into our country. They’re very, very sick with highly contagious disease, and they’re let into our country to infect our country,” Trump said.

His speech included references to what he would do in his first days back in the White House if he wins November’s election.

“I’m announcing today that, upon taking office, we will have an Operation Aurora at the federal level to expedite the removals of these savage gangs,” Trump said.

Part of the plan, he explained, was to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, an antiquated law that allows the federal government to round up and deport foreigners belonging to a country with which America is at war.

Trump then added he would seek harsh penalties for migrants involved in crimes.

“I’m hereby calling for the death penalty for any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer,” he said, to cheers from the crowd.

Race enters final phase

The Aurora rally comes as Trump and his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, enter the final stretch of the election season, with just 23 days until the vote.

Trump has long promoted anti-immigrant sentiment, even before his first successful run for office in 2016.

In the early and mid-2010s, he spread conspiracy theories about former President Barack Obama’s citizenship and whether the Democratic leader was secretly Muslim.

When he announced his bid for the presidency in 2016, Trump campaigned in part on depictions of Mexican immigrants as “rapists”. That rhetoric continued throughout his term in office, which ended in 2021.

Experts have warned that dehumanising language about migrants and foreigners can increase the likelihood of violence.

But polls consistently show immigration as one of the top election issues in the US, making it fertile ground for politicians.

Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, have focused intensely on the issue as the November election approaches.

They have sought to paint Harris as a “border czar” — a false designation — who left the US with “open borders” vulnerable to mass immigration.

While southern border crossings did spike under Biden — reaching 250,000 crossings in the month of December 2023 — they have since returned to numbers similar to those seen during Trump’s term.

Speaking to Latino voters during a Univision town hall on Thursday, Harris defended the Biden administration’s policy on immigration. She pointed to a recent bipartisan bill that would have toughened restrictions on the border.

The bill was reportedly scuttled by Republicans loyal to Trump, reportedly at the former president’s behest.

Still, critics say Harris has lurched further to the right on immigration issues. During a visit to Arizona last month, she promised to impose tougher restrictions on asylum than Biden, who has already taken action to limit asylum claims.

Trump and Vance, meanwhile, have zeroed in on communities in cities like Aurora and Springfield, Ohio, to advance apocalyptic claims about immigration.

Last month, for instance, the Republican ticket amplified unfounded claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield were killing and eating pets. Local and state authorities repeatedly said there was no evidence to support the claims and called on Trump to stop spreading falsehoods.