Denver mayor decries immigration raids in hospitals, schools

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 ICE agents they have to avoid sensitive locations, including schools, hospitals and churches.

“What criminals are hiding in schools? Middle schools, elementary schools — you gonna go into those?” Raddatz asked Homan.

“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 in the U.S. without legal status. 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.”

Kush Desai, a spokesperson for the White House, said in an emailed statement to The Hill that “President Trump received a historic mandate from the American people to secure our border, mass deport illegal immigrants, and put American citizens first. “

“He will use every lever of executive and legislative power to deliver for the American people,” Desai added.

Story updated at 10:55 p.m. EDT

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