President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for border czar has threatened to throw the Denver mayor in jail if he doesn’t comply with mass deportations.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has voiced resistance to Trump’s campaign promise to conduct mass deportations and last week said he would even go to jail to stand up for the cause. Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar nominee, said both he and Johnston think he should be behind bars if he doesn’t abide by what could be a federal policy.
“Look, me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing: he’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail,” Tom Homan said Monday on Fox News. His comment comes one day after Homan threatened to slash federal funds to states with leaders who don’t cooperate with immigration authorities.
He pointed to a statute that says it’s illegal to knowingly conceal, harbor or shield an illegal migrant “from detection” or attempt to do so. It’s also a felony “to impede a federal law enforcement officer,” he added.
“So if we don’t help, that’s fine, he can get the hell out of the way,” Homan said. “But we’re going to go do the job.”
Trump “has a mandate of the American people. We gotta secure this country. We gotta save American lives,” he said.
Homan still has to be confirmed by the Senate before assuming the Trump administration role.
On Sunday, Fox News host Mark Levin asked Homan would use the “very powerful weapon” of slashing federal funds if a governor doesn’t cooperate. Homan agreed: “That’s going to happen. President Trump will do that.”
He continued: “President[-elect] Trump has made it clear, we’re going to prioritize public safety threats and national security threats right out of the gate because they pose the most danger to this country. What governor or mayor doesn’t want public safety threats and national security threats out of their neighborhoods, out of their communities? That’s their number one responsibility.”
When asked about whether Denver police would comply with immigration enforcement, the Denver mayor told Denverite Wednesday: “Absolutely not. We won’t do it.”
He said he would be willing to be put behind bars for the cause.
“Yeah, I’m not afraid of that, and I’m also not seeking that,” Johnston told 9News Friday. “I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people how to solve hard problems.”
He also encouraged locals to protest the deportations: “I think things are happening that are illegal or immoral or un-American in our city, I would certainly protest it, and I would expect other residents would do the same.”
The mayor clarified that he has a “clear” line for who should be deported: “We think if you are a violent criminal that is committing serious crimes like murder or rape in Denver, you should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and you should be deported.”
Johnston emphasized he hopes to have a good working relationship with the next administration: “We believe in a democracy you should be able to change administrations and change parties and still serve all of your residents.”
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul also warned of the consequences if Johnston doesn’t comply, telling “Face the Nation” on Sunday: “I would say that the mayor of Denver, if he’s going to resist federal law — which, there’s a long-standing history of the supremacy of federal law — he’s going to resist that, it will go all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Paul clarified that he opposes Trump’s idea to use the military for mass deportations.
The Republican Senator supports plans to deport “the 15,000 murderers and 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators” but only through the “normal process of domestic policing.” But, he added: “I will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities. I think it’s a terrible image.”
