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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston walked back comments he made earlier in the week about using authorities to stop mass deportations that have been promised under President-elect Donald Trump.

“More than us having DPD stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there,” Johnston said during an interview with Denverite. “It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? You’d have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them.”

He walked back those comments Friday during an interview with Denver’s NBC affiliate 9News.

“Would I have taken it back if I could? Yes, I probably wouldn’t have used that image,” he told the outlet. “That’s the image I hope we can avoid. What I was trying to say is this is an outcome I hope we can avoid in this country. I think none of us want that.”

According to the New York Post, about 40,000 illegal migrants have come to reside in Denver since 2022, making it the largest number per capita of any city in the country. 

Trump has made mass deportations a major part of his incoming campaign as illegal immigration has skyrocketed in the U.S.