In an interview with Denver's 9NEWS on Monday, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said the city intends to work with ICE regarding violent criminals, and that all previous requests for reports from ICE have been for violent criminals. “If we see a dramatic expansion,'' he said. If the number of requests from this administration is higher compared to the previous administration, we can reevaluate. However, we are currently honoring requests received. Because those requests almost always focus on violent criminals. ”
“We will continue to work with violent criminals, as we have in the past, beyond the last administration, and we will do it again,” Johnston said in his opening statement. We don't want that and that's been consistently clear to us.”
Host Kyle Clark then asked, “Do you draw the line at violent crime?” A lot of the talk we're hearing from your office is about the distinction between people who commit violent crimes and people who don't. What about people who are here without permission, such as habitual drunk drivers? Will you work with ICE to get them removed? ”
Johnston responded, “So what we do now is that when someone is arrested for something like a DUI, we don't proactively ask them about their circumstances or proactively report them to ICE.” . But if ICE contacts us and says we know you have a criminal in custody, we partner with them to notify them when we release them. And I'm going to make sure they can pick me up. So if we have a violent offender identified by ICE, or an offender identified by ICE with a significant criminal history, and they ask us to notify them, we will notify them when we release them; They can pick them up. ”
Clark then asked, “But do you draw a line between people you think should be prioritized and people you don't?” And, for example, where do we rank someone who poses a threat to public safety but is not necessarily dangerous?”
Johnston replied: All the requests we have received so far have been about violent criminals. Because if you're not a violent offender, we often don't keep you in jail for too long, and if it's a small, minor crime, you can be released on bail or something like that. If we see a dramatic increase in the number of requests from this administration compared to the previous one, we may re-evaluate. However, we are currently honoring requests received. Because those requests almost always focus on violent criminals. ”
Johnston also said the city will fully cooperate with immigrants who have valid warrants.
Afterward, Johnston said “everyone agrees” that criminals should be rounded up. And, “If you're committing a crime, yes, we'll hold you accountable.”
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