During an interview with Denver’s 9NEWS on Monday, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston stated that the city will cooperate with ICE on violent criminals and has and that all the requests for notification from ICE have usually been for violent criminals, but “If we see a dramatic expansion in the number of requests that come from this administration, versus the last, then we could re-evaluate. But right now, we honor those requests that come in because those requests almost always focus on violent criminals.”
Johnston began by saying, “We will partner on violent criminals, as we have always done. In the past, over the last administration, we will do it again. We don’t want criminals of any background on our streets, and that’s been clear for us consistently.”
Host Kyle Clark then asked, “Do you draw the line at violent crime? A lot of what I hear from your office talks about distinguishing between people who have committed violent crimes and those who have not. How about somebody who is here without authorization who, say, is a repeat drunk driver? Would you work with ICE to get them out?”
Johnston responded, “So, right now, what we do is we don’t proactively ask someone’s status when they’re arrested, say, for drunk driving, nor do we proactively report to ICE. But if ICE reaches out to us and says, we know you have someone in your custody who is a criminal, what we will do is partner with them and notify them when we’re releasing them so they can pick them up. So, if there is a violent criminal ICE has identified or a criminal ICE has identified with a serious criminal history and they ask us for notification, we will notify them when we release them and they can pick them up.”
Clark then asked, “But do you draw a line between those who you believe should be priorities for removal and those who should not? And where would rank somebody who, say, poses a threat to public safety, but is not necessarily dangerous?”
Johnston answered, “We don’t. In the past, all of the requests we’ve gotten have been for violent criminals. Because, often, we don’t hold you very long in our jail if you’re not a violent criminal, you’d be out on a bond or otherwise if it was a small, minor offense. If we see a dramatic expansion in the number of requests that come from this administration, versus the last, then we could re-evaluate. But right now, we honor those requests that come in because those requests almost always focus on violent criminals.”
Johnston further stated that the city will fully partner on migrants who have active warrants.
Later, Johnston stated that “everyone agrees with” rounding up criminals. And “If you’re committing crimes, yes, we will hold you accountable.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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