Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Tuesday decried immigration raids in schools and hospitals.
“We don’t want people targeting schools or churches or hospitals,” Johnston told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.” “We think it fundamentally infringes on the public safety of a city if you can’t go to the hospital and feel secure there or take your kids to school.”
President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan defended plans from the Trump administration to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into schools in an interview that aired Sunday. On “This Week,” ABC News’s Martha Raddatz noted the Trump administration saying that it will no longer tell Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents they have to avoid sensitive locations, including schools, hospitals, churches.”
“What criminals are hiding in schools? Middle schools, elementary schools — you gonna go into those?” Raddatz asked.
“How many MS-13 members are the age 14 to 17? Many of them,” Homan said.
“So look, if it’s a national security threat, public safety threat and what, what you need to understand is that it’s case by case, name another agency, another law enforcement agency, that has those type of requirements, that they can’t walk into a school or doctor’s office or a medical campus,” he added. “No other agency is held to those standards. These are well-trained officers with a lot of discretion, and when it comes to a sensitive location, there’s still gonna be supervisory review.”
Trump made the issue of immigration central to his 2024 presidential bid, pledging on the campaign trail to deport millions of people not in the U.S. legally. His administration has taken multiple steps to change immigration and border policies immediately.
“We’ll help collaborate on folks that are violent criminals,” Johnston said during his CNN appearance Tuesday. “We’re gonna help protect our churches and schools and hospitals.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
