Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has warned that Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s open defiance of President Donald Trump‘s deportation plans could result in his removal from office.
During an appearance on Face the Nation, Paul expressed support for Trump’s plans to deport murderers and rapists back to their home country, despite warnings against the optics of using the military to do so.
“You know, I’m 100% supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapists—let’s send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison,” Paul asserted.
“We’ve had a long-standing distrust of putting the Army into our streets,” Paul explained.
“The police understand the Fourth Amendment. They go to judges, get warrants, and ensure specificity. So, I’m for removing these people, but through the normal process of domestic policing.”
Paul described the Mayor’s actions as a “form of insurrection,” which could have legal consequences.
“The mayor of Denver, if he’s going to resist federal law, which is a long-standing history of the supremacy of federal law, if he’s going to resist that, it will go all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Paul.
“I would suspect that he would be removed from office. I don’t know whether or not there’d be a criminal prosecution for someone resisting federal law, but he will lose. People need to realize that what he is offering is a form of insurrection where the states resist the federal government.”
“Most people objected to that and rejected that long ago. So think the Mayor of Denver is on the wrong side of history, and really, I think, will face legal ramifications if he doesn’t obey the federal law,” he added.
Johnston recently vowed to transform Denver into a so-called “fortress of resistance,” declaring his city a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, including those with criminal records.
Johnston’s strategy involves mobilizing Denver police officers to obstruct federal authorities from carrying out Trump’s deportations.
However, Johnston later walked back the remark following severe backlash.
9NEWS Reporter Marc Sallinger asked Johnston about his willingness to participate in civil disobedience against the deportation.
“If I believe that our residents are having their rights violated, if I think things are happening that are illegal or immoral or un-American in our city, I would certainly protest it, and I would expect other residents would do the same,” Johnston said.
The Denver Mayor was also asked about Trump’s border Czar’s recent warning that those obstructing the deportation efforts could face jail time.
“Yeah, I’m not afraid of that. I’m also not seeking that,” Johnston responded.
“I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people on how to solve hard problems. Republican and Democratic presidents in the past have all tried to find solutions to these problems.’
“President Reagan helped people get access to work so they could stay and support themselves. Biden and Harris worked on restricting entry at the border to close it down. There are a lot of ways to approach this problem. We don’t think it has to come to this.
