Denver Mayor Mike Johnston stands by his comments predicting a “Tiananmen Square moment” but says he is willing to go to jail for opposing President-elect Trump's mass deportation plan.
Johnston was asked last week about his opposition to President Trump's plan to significantly ramp up deportations of illegal immigrants when he takes office next year. Johnston predicted that if that happened, police would be called in and a “Tiananmen moment” would occur. federal immigration officer We tried to do our job.
“Rather than us stationing DPD at the county line to stop them, we'd have 50,000 Denver residents there,” Johnston said. “It’s like Tiananmen with roses and guns, right? So were all the highland moms who came rushing in for the immigrants.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston says President Trump's mass immigrant deportations will cause a 'Tiananmen Square Massacre'
President-elect Trump and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (Getty Images)
“And you don't want to mess with them.”
But in a later interview Friday, 9 newshe ignored those comments.
“Would I have gone back if I could? Yes, I probably wouldn't have used that image,” Johnston said. “That's the image we want to avoid. What I was saying is, I hope we can avoid this in this country. No one would want that.”
But he said he was prepared to protest any action he deems “illegal, immoral, or un-American” in the city (including the use of force) and then go to jail for disturbing him. I was asked if I was ready. A policy enacted by the government.
“Yeah, I'm not afraid of it and I'm not looking for it,” Johnston said. “I think the goal is to be able to negotiate with rational people how to solve difficult problems.”
He expressed support for limited deportations of people convicted of “serious crimes.” He also said they would become “ready partners” if the plan focused solely on violent crime.
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ICE agents will conduct enforcement operations on June 2, 2022. (Immigration/Immigration Residency Control and Customs Enforcement)
“I think our policy is clear,” Johnston said. “We believe that if you are a violent criminal committing serious crimes like murder or rape in Denver, you should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and deported. We stand by it and we always stand by it.''We will continue to stand by it. We have been working with the previous administration on this. We will continue to do so in the future. ”
The incoming administration's plan to ramp up deportations has already drawn opposition from Democratic officials in many states.
The governors of Illinois, Arizona and Massachusetts said they would not cooperate with the administration's operation. Arizona Democratic Party Governor Katie Hobbs She said the state would not cooperate with what she called a “misguided” plan.
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“I can say unequivocally that as governor, I will not condone efforts that harm our communities, threaten our communities, and are part of a misguided policy that terrorizes our communities. Arizona State will not participate in them,” Hobbs said. .
However, some republican states Texas has offered to help by providing more than 1,400 acres of land for mass deportations near the border.
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“I support the Trump Administration's commitment 100% to remove these criminals from our country, and I will continue to facilitate the deportation of these violent criminals,” Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham told Fox News Digital. We are happy to provide the resources to do so.” last week.
