Trump’s Incoming Border Czar Warns Denver Mayor Over Sanctuary City Policy

Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan speaks at the National Press Club on June 5, 2018. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar,” Tom Homan, warned the mayor of Denver that he may be in violation of the law if he does not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Trump and Homan have pledged to initiate a mass deportation effort to target illegal immigrants across the United States. Earlier this month, the president-elect said that on the first day of his administration, he would also declare a national emergency over the issue.

In an interview with Fox News on Nov. 25, Homan was asked about remarks made by Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, who said he would use the Denver Police to block federal immigration officials from deporting illegal immigrants.

Homan said that Johnston should look at the Arizona v. United States Supreme Court ruling to see that “he’s breaking the law” if he uses his city’s police force to impede immigration efforts.

“But, 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,” he said.

That court order, issued in 2012, held that the federal government “has occupied the field of alien registration” and that any state action in that regard is “impermissible.”

Homan, a former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief, was later asked whether sanctuary cities are breaking federal immigration laws, and he responded that they are. The Trump administration, he said, is also prepared to respond if appropriate.

“We are going to go do the job,“ he said. ”President Trump has a mandate for the American people. We’ve got to secure this country, and we have to save American lives.”

He said that Trump wants “to concentrate on public safety threats and national security threats,” adding that it is “shocking that any mayor of the city would say they don’t want public safety threats removed from their neighborhoods.”

The Epoch Times contacted Johnston’s office for comment on Nov. 26 but received no reply by publication time.

In an interview with Denverite earlier this month, Johnston said that the Denver Police Department may be “stationed at the county line” to keep federal immigration officials out.

“It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? You’d have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them,” he said.

A spokesperson for Johnston’s office told media outlets that the city of Denver will consider “a number of options” in response to the incoming administration’s policies.

“We continue to provide education about the rights of our immigrant community so they can best protect themselves from any unlawful actions,” the spokesperson said.

Trump has said he plans to begin his deportation efforts on the first day of his presidency. During his campaign, he frequently said he would curb illegal immigration, linking a record spike in unauthorized border crossings to issues ranging from drug trafficking to high housing prices.

There are an estimated 11 million people in the country illegally, according to a Pew Research report.

On the campaign trail, Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), also suggested that they would scale back the use of Temporary Protected Status orders that shield more than 1 million illegal immigrants.

One of Trump’s first personnel announcements after he won the presidential election was Homan as his border czar, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

“I don’t care what anybody’s opinion is on illegal immigration,” Homan said in an interview earlier this month, responding to potential criticism of his policies. “When you create a crisis this big, all these other bad things happen. That’s [why] we have to secure the border.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.