Mayor Mike Johnston is confused. 

Denver’s mayor wants to stand athwart the city’s boundaries to stop people from leaving. His problem is he’s focused on the wrong people. 

Apparently seeking to bolster his progressive bona-fides, Mayor Mike recently staged a public hissy fit about the incoming Trump administration’s plan to deport illegal immigrants. In a bizarre rant he had to walk back, he said he would deploy the already understaffed Denver Police Department to stop federal immigration agents. 

If his goal was to get national attention as a pro-illegal immigrant warrior, it worked. 

Badly. 

He managed to shine the spotlight on the widespread failures of Colorado’s capital city to reverse its decline. He also reminded citizens the massive influx of migrants has stretched the municipal and school district budgets beyond the breaking point. 

Quickly realizing he was over his skis, he said well maybe citizens would rise up and he would lead the resistance.

Resist what? 

Deporting the 1.3 million illegals for whom the federal government, under President Joe Biden, has already issued final orders of removal? Or fighting the departure of the minority of migrants who commit crimes?

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It would be nice if Mayor Mike had as much passion to resist — and reverse — the steady decay of the city he was elected to lead. 

Mike Johnston’s problem isn’t preventing illegals from leaving. It’s bringing back workers, diners and shoppers who have already left — and aren’t eager to return.

A study by the Common Sense Institute (CSI) looked at downtown Denver’s recovery from the pandemic.

What will not surprise anyone who has been downtown recently — Denver has the lowest foot traffic of 16 major cities studied by the University of Toronto. One reason is Denver has the highest office vacancy rate among Front Range cities, with one-quarter of offices sitting empty — and, oddly, the highest office lease rates. 

And worse, the state of Denver’s downtown also discourages people who do not live or work in the city from venturing out for an evening. 

This is what makes Johnston’s assertion he would deploy Denver cops to stop the deportation of illegals even more out of touch. Crime in Denver is sky high and that’s where the mayor needs to focus his police force. 

The CSI study showed there were 1,150 crimes in the third quarter of 2024, the highest of any third quarter since before the pandemic. This tracks with a Downtown Denver Partnership survey, which CSI cites, that says a major issue afflicting downtown is a lack of a sense of safety and security. 

As disturbing as these facts are, downtown’s decline wasn’t caused by the pandemic. COVID merely hastened and deepened it.  

Those of us who worked downtown pre-pandemic experienced the rise in homelessness, vagrancy, drug use, aggressive panhandling and more. 

Years before the pandemic struck, a leader in the business community told me about how he was excited to show off Denver as a destination for meetings and conventions. He said he was going to bus site selectors from the convention center Hilton at 15th and California to Guard and Grace restaurant at 18th and California. 

Driving them three blocks?

“Well I can’t take the chance of having them walk and encounter who knows what by the 16th Street Mall,” he said. 

The city then was so bad it had to hide the dysfunction on display downtown — like hanging a picture in a weird place in your living room to cover a gaping hole in the wall. 

Wouldn’t something that bad be a wake-up call for the city?

The elected leaders hit snooze. 

Others, like the Downtown Denver Partnership, have sincerely fought to reverse the continually rising tide of decay. But there is only so much one organization can do.

Denver, like too many American cities governed by naïve progressives, has been rendered unworthy of good people who want to live, work and play in Colorado’s capital city.  

Decades ago, Denver Mayor Frederico Peña challenged citizens to “imagine a great city.” Now people who make a great city thrive are rejecting downtown in droves because they can’t even imagine a decent city anymore. 

Sean Duffy, a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Bill Owens, is a communications and media relations strategist and ghostwriter based in the Denver area.

On Monday, fan voting opened up for the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl Games. Fans are now able to vote online, with social media voting to start December 9.

The Pro Bowl Games replaced the original Pro Bowl, in which players demonstrate skills and take part in flag football, as opposed to a regular football game as in years past. But as with past seasons, the rosters will be determined by a combination of player, head coach and fan votes.

Regardless of what one thinks about the importance of the Pro Bowl, the Denver Broncos have multiple players who have cases to make the AFC roster. Let’s take a look at those players in order of the likelihood who could make the final roster.

The Broncos’ No. 1 cornerback should have no problem making the cut. PS2 continues to play at a high level, with three interceptions on the year, along with consistent play in containing or shutting down the top wide receiver he faces.

Surtain is a top contender for Defensive Player of the Year and should now be recognized throughout the league as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, if not the best corner, period.

Meinerz has established himself as one of the better offensive guards in the NFL. In 10 games, the fourth-year player has allowed just one sack (not including Week 12) and committed just one holding penalty while becoming arguably the best player on a quality offensive line.

Meinerz hasn’t received much recognition outside of Denver for his first three seasons, even after a strong 2023 season. However, more people should be aware of his play now and that should translate to a bigger push for him to get his first Pro Bowl nod.

After a quiet rookie season in 2022, which was followed by mostly coming off the bench in 2023, Bonitto is having a breakout season. He currently ranks third in the NFL with 10 sacks, tied with Myles Garrett and trailing Trey Hendrickson and Danielle Hunter.

To be up there with elite players like Hendrickson, Hunter and Garrett says a lot about Bonitto’s play. It should hopefully be enough for Bonitto to overcome what might be a lack of name recognition and get his first Pro Bowl selection.

Bolles is another reason why the Broncos offensive line has played so well. Two seasons removed from a broken leg, Bolles is having one of his best seasons as a pro.

Not including Week 12, Bolles has allowed just one sack this season. He has been called for 10 penalties, which might not help his case, but his overall play could be enough to get his second Pro Bowl berth.

Nix is not just in the conversation for Offensive Rookie of the Year — he’s building himself a case for the Pro Bowl. A ratio of 16 touchdowns to six interceptions should certainly help his cause, plus five more scores (four rushing/one receiving).

However, Nix has two MVP candidates to deal with in the AFC: Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Also, Joe Burrow has thrown 27 touchdowns with just four picks, despite the Bengals’ losing record. Still, Nix could be in line for first alternate if he keeps playing well.

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Allen continues to be a consistent playmaker for the Broncos. He has five sacks with 21 quarterback hits and 28 pressures in 11 games.

Allen’s problem is there are quite a few defensive linemen playing well in the AFC. He’s had a Pro Bowl-worthy season, but he’ll have to beat out some other worthy players.

Jones had a tough task in replacing fan favorite and previous Pro Bowl selection Justin Simmons. However, Jones has risen to the occasion, with two interceptions and multiple pass breakups.

The issue with Jones may be name recognition. Other safeties tend to dominate the conversation more and will probably get the nod. But Jones has a case to be the latest Broncos safety to make the Pro Bowl.

Sutton has 57 receptions for 744 yards and five touchdowns in 12 games. While those numbers may not stand out in the NFL as a whole, he ranks high when you only look at AFC receivers (which he’s competing against for a Pro Bowl spot).

Among AFC receivers only, Sutton currently ranks third in the AFC in receiving yards, fourth in touchdowns, and third in receptions. The better receivers in the NFL have been in the NFC this year, save for Ja’Marr Chase, who leads the league in receiving yards and touchdowns.

While Sutton might be a long shot to make the Pro Bowl, you can’t rule him out given where he ranks in the AFC field.

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President-elect Donald Trump’s “border czar” claimed Monday that he will throw the mayor of Denver, Colorado in prison if his city resists Trump’s efforts to deport millions of immigrants from the United States.

“Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing: he’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail,” Tom Homan said in an appearance on Fox News’ Hannity.

Homan was responding to an interview last week in which Mayor Mike Johnston told Denverite he would summon local police to block federal forces mobilized by Trump to round up immigrants.

He also suggested the community would rise up against them.

“More than us having [the Denver Police Department] stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there,” Johnston said.

“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.”

Johnston added that he would explore the creation of city work authorizations if Trump follows through on a pledge to block immigrants from working.

His remarks immediately became fodder for conservative cable news and MAGA sycophants like Elon Musk, who tweeted, “The mayor of Denver hates his constituents.”

During an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) accused the mayor of advocating for a “form of insurrection.”

Johnston later softened his stance on city police blocking federal agents, but reiterated his support for mass protests against any deportation efforts.

Homan, meanwhile, pledged to have federal officers carry out deportations, no matter what Johnston thinks.

“I don’t know what the hell’s going on in Denver, but we are going to go fix it,“ he said. ”If he don’t want to fix it, if he don’t want to protect his communities, President Trump and ICE will.”

Homan is a rough and tumble former Border Patrol agent who led the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on an acting basis under Trump from January 2017 to June 2018.

He was not confirmed by the United States Senate, while his new role doesn’t require confirmation.

During Trump’s second term in office, he will be in charge of the U.S. land and sea borders, including the enforcement of the President-elect’s pledge to mass deport millions of people with the use of federal or even military personnel.