Over 5,000 illegal migrants traveled to Denver from the southern border since December, prompting the city to spent nearly $8 million for their housing, aid and travel to other cities across the U.S.
The city spent a total of $7,939,855 so far in migrant aid, including $871,531 in bus tickets to other cities, The Denver Post reported.
Of 1,900 of the tickets bought in December alone, 400 were purchased for migrants to travel to Chicago and 345 to New York City, which has seen over 45,000 migrants seeking asylum since last spring. Tickets have also been bought for migrants to travel to Miami, Atlanta and Dallas, according to Denver’s migrant operations center.
Mayor Michael Hancock told PBS News Hour in January that the U.S. has “failed to develop a sensible immigration strategy,” and that major cities, including Denver, are experiencing an influx of migrants that makes it difficult to assist them individually.
MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER HIT 1,000,000 MARK FOR FY 2023, OUTPACING PRIOR YEAR: SOURCES
A migrant lying on a sleeping pad at a makeshift shelter in Denver on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
“I think the reality is, is that we have, again, failed to develop a sensible immigration strategy for this nation and to help our border cities — states and cities to deal effectively with the right resources, with the right safety net systems to help those who want to come to the U.S.,” Hancock said. “And so other cities like Tucson and Denver and Chicago, who may not be necessarily on that border, are being surged with migrants who are looking for opportunity in the U.S. as they have come across, unauthorized for the most part, into the United States.”
The city limited stays in Denver’s emergency migrant shelters to only two weeks in an effort to encourage the migrants to find a more permanent stay elsewhere, but it has not been easy to manage them on a case-by-case basis.
MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS PASS BILL TO GRANT ILLEGAL MIGRANTS US DRIVER’S LICENSES
A migrant is checking a sheet about information for leaving a Denver sheltering facility at a makeshift shelter in Denver on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
“We know it’s going to be challenging, because not only do we have to find alternative shelter opportunities, but we have to case-manage and assess really the status of these individuals who have come to our cities,” he told the outlet. “And that’s why it has to be a multi-level of government response to this and not just cities of Denver, Tucson, Chicago, New York, or what have you responding.”
According to the city’s migrant sheltering and support dashboard, 36 migrants arrived Tuesday. In Denver, there are currently 1,159 migrants sheltered in non-city facilities and 83 in city facilities.
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Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.