Denver's mayor has vowed to mobilize local police and 50,000 residents “stationed at county lines” to protect immigrants in sanctuary cities from mass deportation — calling it a “Tiananmen Square moment.” I'm calling.
“More than we have, [federal agents] Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston recently spoke to Denverite after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants across the United States.
“It's like a Tiananmen moment…right?” Johnston said, referring to the famous video of the confrontation between Chinese students and government tanks in China's Tiananmen Square during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. spoke.
“You'd have all the Highland moms who came for immigration, and we don't want to interfere with them,” the mayor said, adding that Denver residents were clearly ready to take on the federal government. talked about it.
Since December 2022, approximately 40,000 immigrants have flocked to the Mile High City. This is the highest number of new arrivals per capita in the country.
This influx has been accompanied by a surge in immigration crimes linked to the Venezuelan prison gang Torren de Aragua.
Criminals are terrorizing Denver and nearby Aurora, with gangs taking over apartment complexes and committing violent crimes.
Aurora City Councilman Daniel Julinski (R) told the Post that Johnston's plan “only further demonstrates how counterproductive he is in one of the country's so-called sanctuary cities.” , which discourages or prevents local authorities from cooperating with federal immigration officials.” immigration.
“If Mayor Johnston wants to stand on the Denver border with Highland moms or something to that effect, that just further shows how counterproductive he is,” Jurinski said. said. “To my knowledge, Aurora has no intention of providing support to the Trump administration, but we will never stand in the way of what the American people voted for.”
sea van fleet, Survivors of China's Mao Zedong Revolution On Thursday, Johnston criticized him for comparing his efforts to the Tiananmen massacre, telling Fox Business that Johnston was “either completely ignorant of history or intentionally made a false analogy.” told.
Elon Musk was recently nominated by President Trump to be the new head of the Department of Government Efficiency. said on his Podium X that Johnston's threats showed “that the mayor of Denver hates his voters.”
Denver's status as a sanctuary city will not change, even under pressure from a new hawkish administration in the White House, Johnston said.
“Simply put, we are not going to change it because it is one of our core values. And we are not going to sell those values to anyone. We are not going to change them. I’m not going to be bullied into doing that,” Johnston said.
“I think we will continue to uphold our values and continue to be a welcoming, open and big-hearted city.”
Tom Homan, President Trump's nominee for “border czar,” told the Post that he expects the new White House administration to file lawsuits against sanctuary cities and withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities. he said.
If things don't change, he said the Trump administration will “flood” these areas with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and have illegal immigrants wait outside local jails until they are released.
Johnston also said he would not allow local law enforcement to assist the federal government in apprehending illegal immigrants.
“Absolutely not,” Johnston said. “We don't do that.”
