After a slew of executive orders following the presidential inauguration on Monday, January 20, many Colorado immigrants and their families are waiting to see how Trump approaches his mass deportation plan. Dubbed Operation Aurora, that plan was named after Colorado's third-largest city because of claims it had been taken over by a gang of violent Venezuelan migrants.
The new administration hasn't provided much detail regarding how the plan will work, but Trump issued a handful of executive orders aimed at immigration right after taking office, including orders to shut down asylum applications, restrict border crossings and declare a national emergency at the United States-Mexico border; the Trump administration also reportedly plans to end birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Federal immigration crackdowns and deportations are looming in Chicago, according to national media outlets, and the Trump administration has already labeled one Venezuelan gang with ties to Aurora a terrorist group, but there haven't yet been reports of federal action in Colorado.
Here's what Trump has said about Operation Aurora so far, and what it would take for him to follow through.
Why Call it Operation Aurora?
During a campaign rally in Aurora on October 11, Trump gave credit to the San Antonio Police Department for the name Operation Aurora. The SAPD department had just been part of a joint operation with federal law enforcement to arrest suspected members of Tren de Aragua, a multi-national prison gang that got its start in Venezuela."San Antonio police very aptly named their law enforcement effort Operation Aurora, because Aurora was the one that was first and got all that publicity," Trump said during his rally in Colorado. "Upon taking office, we will have an Operation Aurora at the federal level to expedite the removals of these savage gangs."
The SAPD chose the name because of fears of violent Venezuelan gangs taking over Aurora, according to local reports.
In early August, an embattled landlord in Aurora claimed that TdA had taken over his apartment complex. A couple of weeks later, footage circulated online of six armed men walking through the halls of another apartment complex owned by the same landlord and his company, CBZ Management.
The TdA controversy is what attracted Trump to Aurora for a campaign stop, where he delivered a speech flanked by mug shots of arrested Venezuelans with suspected ties to TdA.
How Many People Does Trump Want to Deport?
Trump promised on his first day in office to "begin the task of finding and deporting every single illegal alien gang member from our country," which he said would be "the largest deportation operation in the history of the United States."
According to the Department of Homeland Security, an immigrant is "unauthorized" if they "entered the United States without inspection or were admitted temporarily and stayed past the date they were required to leave."
About 11 million undocumented immigrants are estimated to be living in the United States, according to the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, a report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, another nonprofit, estimated in July that Colorado is home to about 156,000 undocumented immigrants.
Months before the Aurora controversy erupted, Trump told Time magazine in an April interview that if he won a second term, he'd deport fifteen to twenty million immigrants.
One of the main targets of Trump's deportation plan are the Venezuelan migrants who came to U.S. interior cities. Nearly 43,000 migrants have come to metro Denver over the past two years, and about half of them are believed to still be in the area, according to the Denver mayor's office.
These migrants are mostly protected by federal policies that allow them to stay while awaiting court dates to determine if they're eligible for asylum, so they're especially worried about Trump's deportation plans, Denver Councilwoman Jamie Torres told residents in December.
The largest deportation in U.S. history is considered to be Operation Wetback, which lasted from 1954 to 1955 and sent more than 1.1 million immigrants in southwestern states to Mexico, according to congressional archives. Operation Aurora would be ten times larger than Operation Wetback...if Trump is able to carry it out.These migrants are mostly protected by federal policies that allow them to stay while awaiting court dates to determine if they're eligible for asylum, so they're especially worried about Trump's deportation plans, Denver Councilwoman Jamie Torres told residents in December.
How Will Trump Carry Out Operation Aurora?
The incoming Trump administration hasn't laid out a detailed plan for the largest deportations in U.S. history. Border czar Tom Homan, who threatened to arrest Denver Mayor Mike Johnston if he stands in the way, told NBC News on January 10 that the Trump administration is "still working on how exactly we want to roll [Operation Aurora] out."But in an interview on Fox & Friends last November, Homan offered the first solid detail of Operation Aurora, saying Trump will rely on raiding workplaces to round up undocumented immigrants who are both victims and perpetrators of human trafficking.
“Where do we find most victims of sex trafficking and forced labor trafficking? At worksites,” Homan said. "Worksite operations have to happen."
However, workplace raids only nab dozens of people at a time, anotherTime article noted in November. Also, before anyone can be deported, they have to get their day in court.
In March, Trump and former senior advisor Stephen Miller — who was at the October rally in Aurora — described a militaristic mass deportation plan, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
"Trump and his advisor, Stephen Miller, have described plans to federalize state National Guard personnel and deploy them for immigration enforcement — arresting people in their homes and workplaces in communities across the nation," according to the ACLU. "Trump has also indicated that state and local police would also be deputized to make arrests and to identify targets."
"This figure is a highly conservative estimate," the report reads, noting that "the government would also be required to establish and maintain over 1,000 new immigration courtrooms to process people." The estimate also includes "the additional hiring costs for the tens of thousands of [federal law enforcement] agents," plus the cost of putting people in detention centers, as "there would be no way to accomplish this mission without mass detention as an interim step."
However, workplace raids only nab dozens of people at a time, anotherTime article noted in November. Also, before anyone can be deported, they have to get their day in court.
In March, Trump and former senior advisor Stephen Miller — who was at the October rally in Aurora — described a militaristic mass deportation plan, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
"Trump and his advisor, Stephen Miller, have described plans to federalize state National Guard personnel and deploy them for immigration enforcement — arresting people in their homes and workplaces in communities across the nation," according to the ACLU. "Trump has also indicated that state and local police would also be deputized to make arrests and to identify targets."
Is Operation Aurora Economically Possible?
Deportation requires law enforcement, detainment centers and immigration courts, and paying for all that will make Operation Aurora very expensive to carry out, according to the nonprofit American Immigration Council. In an October report, the Immigration Council estimated that a one-time mass deportation would cost about $315 billion."This figure is a highly conservative estimate," the report reads, noting that "the government would also be required to establish and maintain over 1,000 new immigration courtrooms to process people." The estimate also includes "the additional hiring costs for the tens of thousands of [federal law enforcement] agents," plus the cost of putting people in detention centers, as "there would be no way to accomplish this mission without mass detention as an interim step."
Legally, Operation Aurora hinges on a law that's more than 200 years old.
During his rally in Aurora, Trump said that he would use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants and maneuver around court proceedings. The 1798 law was created to remove hostile foreign enemies during a time when President John Adams feared an invasion by France.
"Think of that, 1798. This was put there in 1798," Trump said in October. "That's a long time ago, right? To target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil."
During his rally in Aurora, Trump said that he would use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants and maneuver around court proceedings. The 1798 law was created to remove hostile foreign enemies during a time when President John Adams feared an invasion by France.
"Think of that, 1798. This was put there in 1798," Trump said in October. "That's a long time ago, right? To target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil."
According to the ACLU, the law allows the president to deport people without giving them trials, as it's meant to "prevent an invasion or predatory incursion."
The courts can only stop Trump after he starts deporting people. However, the ACLU warns that if the courts agree with Trump's interpretation of the law, the only way to stop Operation Aurora would be for state and local law enforcement to refuse to help him.
"The bottom line is that a president cannot unilaterally make good on threats to conduct the largest deportation drive in our nation’s history or to do so using the Alien Enemies Act and other legal authorities," the ACLU notes. "Without the assistance of state and local government agencies, a second Trump administration will find it much harder to identify, arrest and detain our immigrant neighbors and loved ones."
Governor Jared Polis said earlier this month that he's happy to have Trump's help deporting "dangerous criminals," but promised that Colorado won't help Trump deport law-abiding immigrants. Mayor Johnston and other Denver officials say they won't help Trump with his mass deportation at all; on the other hand, Aurora officials have declared it a non-sanctuary city.
