Updated at 6:51 p.m.
Update: Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman told Denverite that he welcomes the former president's potential visit.
“Bring it on. Come here. I'm excited for you to come here so I could show you that the narrative that is being presented nationally about this city isn't true," Coffman said, "That there are no apartment complexes under gang control, that the city's not under gang control, Venezuelan gang control.”
Our original story continues below.
Former President and current GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump said he will visit Aurora, as he doubled down on false claims that the city of 400,000 people has been taken over by a Venezuelan gang.
“I'm going to go there in the next two weeks. I’m going to Springfield [Ohio] and I’m going to Aurora,” he told the crowd at a campaign rally in New York Wednesday.
Trump falsely claimed that Venezuelans are “taking over large pieces of real estate in Colorado” and that the governor is “petrified” and “he doesn’t want to talk about it.”
He added law enforcement is “afraid in these places because it’s so violent. They’ve never seen people like this.”
Talk of a Venezuela gang in Aurora has become a major theme from right wing politicians and made headlines in conservative media in recent weeks. Local police and officials say the gang, Tren de Aragua, does have a presence in the Denver metro area, but added that it is dwarfed by the activities of domestic gangs.
The allegations of a gang takeover stem in large part from claims made by the landlord of several apartments in Aurora, who has come under fire for the poor management and neglect of its buildings. Residents say there are some problems with crime, but also that they’ve been targeted with threats and intimidation since this story went national.
GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert welcomed the news of a potential Trump visit to the state, “where the influx of illegal aliens to places like Aurora and Denver has been unacceptable and unsustainable.”
And she continued her long-standing criticism of the Biden-Harris Administration's border policies, saying they have “resulted in dangerous gang members being released into our country to terrorize residents and destroy the safety of our communities.”
More than 40,000 new immigrants have come through the metro area in recent years, many with pending asylum cases. Border crossings have dropped significantly in recent months, after the Biden administration put significant new limits on the process to claim asylum.
Gov. Jared Polis, however, pushed back on the negative characterizations of Aurora, saying if Trump does visit he will find a "strong, vibrant, and diverse city" that is a "wonderful place to live, run a business, raise a family or retire."
"It’s clear that Donald Trump is deeply unpopular in Colorado, and continues to distract people with his hurtful and damaging lies," the governor said in a statement. "The state of Colorado has a zero tolerance for crime and we have secured millions in funding to improve public safety and I hope he doesn’t bring a lawless or criminal element with him that could set us back.”
Meanwhile, Aurora’s Rep. Jason Crow has also defended his city. He said previously that he’s talked with local and federal law enforcement, as well as city officials, and there “is no evidence of takeover by gangs of apartment buildings, of extortion rings, many of the things that they’ve been talking about simply is not happening.”
However, he added there have been isolated incidents of gang activity that are being addressed by law enforcement. Crow said politicians are “only turning their attention to this now because they think they can politicize immigrants and refugees.”
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Council Member Danielle Jurinksy, who played a central role in raising concerns about the gang, issued a joint statement last week denying that the gang had “taken over” the city and pushing back on statements made by Trump and the Colorado Republican Party.
“Issues experienced at a select few properties do not apply to the city as a whole or large portions of it. The overstated claims fueled by social media and through select news organizations are simply not true. Again, TdA’s presence in Aurora is limited to specific properties, all of which the city has been addressing in various ways for months," they wrote.
Trump has been talking about Aurora on the campaign trail since his debate with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, as well as unfounded claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, many who are in the country legally, eating pets.
Trump, who often speaks about immigrants in a negative light, has said if he’s elected that he will start mass deportations, starting in Springfield and Aurora.
