Denver mayor promotes how to deal with migrants ‘playbook’
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has been slammed for turning his city into a safe haven for illegal immigrants.
The city has taken in more than 41,433 border crossers in two years, costing taxpayers millions of dollars and depleting nearly all of Denver’s resources.
Now, the Democratic mayor has written a 25-page how-to manual for other elected officials in similar circumstances who want to follow suit.
COST OF THE MIGRANT CRISIS: WHY DENVER’S NEIGHBORS HAVE HAD ENOUGH
“We’re proud this playbook will help newcomers resettle in cities with more opportunities, help cities across the country successfully welcome newcomers and reinvigorate workforces,” said Johnston, who described Denver as “the national leader on this topic.”
Over the last 18 months, “despite the federal government failing to support our cities, Denver has led by building sustainable systems that help newcomers get back on their feet and turning a crisis into opportunity,” Johnston’s office said.
The first section of the online manual includes meeting with key state and city agencies, community partners, and relevant organizations and then keeping a log of those meetings. The second step encourages the creation of a group tasked with making final decisions on policies that include everything from feeding and food available at city-run shelters to the length of stay and rules. There are flow charts for the intake process, but the fourth step encourages cities to offer transportation out of the city as quickly as possible.
Denver, a self-described “sanctuary city,” has spent so much money on sheltering and taking care of illegal immigrants that it disastrously floated cutting some city services to keep funding migrant needs, which caused an uproar. In the end, Johnston shaved his own budget, as well as that of the fire and police departments, to pay for the costs associated with the wave of newcomers who showed up on Denver’s doorstep, penniless and in search of a safe place to stay. Denver sheltered thousands in several hotels and city shelters.
They’ve helped migrant children enroll in schools, provided emergency food assistance, and taught migrants how to fill out forms for work permits.
Denver, Chicago, and New York City have been on the front lines of the country’s emotionally charged immigration debate, with the Mile High City receiving more migrants per capita than any other big city outside of Texas in 2023.
Even though Denver has welcomed migrants with open arms, its neighboring cities and counties have not been as charitable.
Douglas County, El Paso County, Weld County, and Aurora have all taken steps to prevent officials from using funds for undocumented migrant services. They have viewed Denver, a city of 710,000 residents, as a cautionary tale and don’t want to end up similarly hemorrhaging money to pay for migrants who often show up penniless and in urgent need of care.
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“I don’t blame the Venezuelan migrants,” Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon told the Washington Examiner. “I blame bad public policy because Denver held up a big sign saying ‘Welcome.’ When you put that big welcome sign on your state and on your city, I don’t blame Venezuelan migrants for saying, ‘Well, they said it was a sanctuary city.’”
It is unknown when Johnston will add more to his “Newcomers Playbook,” but he has said it is a work in progress.
