CNN host visibly stunned by incoming border czar Tom Homan saying he will JAIL Denver mayor
CNN host Kasie Hunt was visibly shocked to hear incoming border czar Tom Homan say he would put Denver Mayor Mike Johnston in jail if he didn’t cooperate with Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan.
During an appearance last Monday with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Homan said, “Me and the mayor of Denver, we agree on one thing; he is willing to go to jail. I’m willing to put him in jail.’
Hunt played this soundbite on her show Wednesday, drawing a visceral reaction before emphasizing that Homan’s rhetoric was “more extreme” than what the Trump campaign had said in the lead-up to Election Day.
“That has some significant and more extreme echoes than what we heard along the way from the Trump campaign,” Hunt said.
Johnston has said that Denver police will not participate in immigration enforcement, claiming that illegal immigrants who commit low-level crimes will not be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency Homan served under during President Barack Obama’s term and Trump.
In response to Homan’s threat to arrest mayors of so-called sanctuary cities, Johnston said he is “not afraid” of going to jail.
Soon, Homan will become the president-elect’s right-hand man in overseeing Trump’s promise of the “largest deportation program in American history.”
“Let me be clear: There will be a mass deportation because we just ended a massive illegal immigration crisis at the border,” Homan said last week. “It is a criminal offense to knowingly harbor hidden illegal anti-immigration authorities. The nation wants a safe country.”
Kasie Hunt, pictured, was visibly stunned when incoming border czar Tom Homan threatened Denver Mayor Mike Johnston with jail time
Homan said last week that he and Johnston “agree on one thing: He is willing to go to prison. I am ready to put him in jail.”
Hunt also played a segment in which Johnston argued that Trump’s deportation plan will be unpopular in practice.
“If they send the U.S. military or Navy Seals into Denver to chase people down, take them off their jobs in hotels or restaurants where they work or take kids off the soccer field, I think we’re going to see Denverites and people in the whole country who will resist it without violence,” Johnston said.
After the Republican elections, Trump and Homan said they are willing to use the military to deport illegal migrants, with Trump hinting he may declare a national emergency.
Hunt asked former White House communications director Mike Dubke what he thought of Trump and Homan’s rhetoric — especially the threats to arrest mayors.
“Tom Homan’s very strong language will limit and hinder the number of people who actually flow across the border,” Dubke said.
“You’re saying this will discourage people from coming?” Hunt followed.
“Completely discourage that,” the former Trump aide responded. “That’s super important and we saw that: when the Biden administration came in, there was a flood for a reason. The rhetoric was toned down.”
The governors of Illinois, Massachusetts and Arizona — a state Trump won in 2024 — have all said they will not assist Trump’s deportation efforts.
Homan has said he is willing to use the U.S. military to carry out the mass deportation of illegal migrants across the country.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston defended his city’s stance on illegal immigrants even as it was revealed he spent $356 million in taxpayer money on their health care, education and more
However, Johnston has emerged as one of the leading voices opposing Homan’s goals.
Last week, a new study revealed that Denver has spent as much as $356 million in taxpayer money on migrants in the city, amid growing resentment from residents who say the migrant crisis has crippled the city.
The figure was revealed by the Common Sense Institute (CSI), which showed Johnston has spent the equivalent of $7,900 per migrant in his city.
Denver’s sanctuary city status has come under scrutiny due to the massive influx of migrants, with CSI estimates that approximately 45,000 migrants have arrived in the Colorado city since December 2022.
Despite Johnston’s insistence that he will stand in the way of deportations, he has already been forced to take drastic measures this year to address the issue, including cutting $30 million in public services and taxpayer emergency funding.