Donald Trump has portrayed migrants as dangerous criminals during a rally in Aurora, Colorado, calling for the death penalty for migrants who kill US citizens as he escalates the anti-immigration rhetoric that has fuelled his presidential run.

Former US President Donald Trump called for the death penalty for migrants who kill US citizens or members of law enforcement, during his rally in the city of A

Trump calls for the death penalty for migrant criminals during a Colorado rally, ramping up his anti-immigration stance before the election.

The former president is unlikely to win in Colorado, but used the state as a prop to attack Democrats on immigration. He also aired grievances about the Colorado effort to prevent him from appearing on the presidential ballot this year.

Addressing thousands of supporters in a cavernous Aurora ballroom, former President Donald Trump on Friday described the migrant challenges faced by his host city in near-apocalyptic terms. His solutions to what he portrayed as lawlessness amid a national crime wave by undocumented immigrants — by exaggerating the “limited” problems acknowledged by Aurora city officials and