Denver Mayor Mike Johnston signed an executive order Thursday that’s intended to protect protesters demonstrating against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations if the city becomes the next target for a surge of agents.
His order requires Denver Police Department officers to intervene and detain ICE agents if they see any using “excessive force.” It also bans the federal agents from using city-owned property for their operations.
Standing in front of the City and County Building in downtown Denver, Johnston told reporters that his goal with the order wasn’t to provoke President Donald Trump. He said he didn’t have any information about whether ICE or the Trump administration intended to send an influx of agents to the city anytime soon.
“My first job is to run this city,” he said. “But in today’s America, that means answering questions from our residents about what happens if ICE troops descend on our city.”
Johnston has watched closely as the Trump administration has sent thousands of federal officers into Minneapolis in recent months. Protesters there have frequently clashed with ICE agents and other federal officers as they carried out their work and detained people.
Tensions came to a head last month when federal agents shot and killed Renée Good and Alex Pretti in separate incidents. While the Trump administration quickly claimed those actions were necessary because of an immediate threat to their officers, bystander videos of both incidents have called those narratives into question.
Local and state officials in Minnesota tangled with federal officials both over who would investigate the incidents and the Trump administration’s call for local authorities to cooperate with the enforcement operations. Agencies began drawing down the federal presence in Minneapolis in recent weeks.
On Thursday, Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas, along with other city leaders, stood behind Johnston during his announcement, supporting the new order.
“This executive order makes it clear that we will protect all of our residents, and the federal agents are expected to follow local laws and public safety regulations,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
City Attorney Miko Brown said during the news conference that the order is constitutional.
“Setting clear legal boundaries is not an act of defiance, it’s responsible governance,” she said.
She clarified that the order would prohibit federal agents from entering or using facilities like the city’s overnight shelters, community centers, libraries and city-run arenas like the Denver Coliseum.
In a news release about the order, Johnston’s office said “police will use their established de-escalation protocols to protect peaceful protesters, their First Amendment rights, and ensure public health, welfare, and safety.”
The order also says DPD will take responsibility for conducting investigations of reported legal violations, “regardless of whether a federal investigation occurs,” according to the release. Denver’s officers will refer felony-level cases to the Denver District Attorney’s Office or the state attorney general.
Johnston said the new rules will pair with an ordinance the City Council is poised to pass next week. It would prohibit all law enforcement officers, including ICE and other federal agents, from covering their faces during detention and arrests. It’s a measure that the Department of Homeland Security called “despicable” and a “flagrant attempt to endanger our officers” in a statement this week.
Council President Amanda Sandoval also stood behind the mayor during Thursday’s event.
“ICE has been here,” she said. “This is an order to protect the residents of Denver and to create clarity for something that is already going on.”
Federal agencies have carried out ongoing operations in the Denver area since last year, but not on the same scale as cities like Chicago and Minneapolis have seen in recent months.
Denver, nearby Aurora and Colorado as a whole have been a focus for the president during his second term. He has threatened the cities and the state multiple times with increased immigration enforcement and the withdrawal of federal dollars.
Last year, Republicans in Congress even threatened to have Johnston arrested.
When asked Thursday if his order, which had quickly received national media attention, could goad Trump into focusing even more on the city, Johnston said that wasn’t his intent.
“Our goal is not to provoke but to protect,” he said.
https://www.denverpost.com/2026/02/26/denver-mayor-order-ice-restrictions-protesters/
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