Denver property owners are being asked to rent out their space to immigrants as Colorado closes four public shelters.
Mile High City Immigration Services issued an email this week to property owners in the area asking for help getting the city’s “newcomers” out of shelters and into more stable housing.
“We’re canvassing all the landlords we have connections with,” said John Ewing of Denver Human Services. he told KDVR. “Basically what we’re saying is, listen, we’ve got some newcomers who need housing.”
The department’s email gauged rental owners’ interest in opening their properties to immigrants in the city on a budget.
“We have a rent cap, which is $2,000,” Ewing added.
The email comes a week after the city of Denver closed four different shelters in an effort to save $60 million in what they called “consolidation.”
“The City of Denver announced today that new shelter operations will be consolidated from seven hotels to three hotels by early April as part of the City’s strategy to move newcomers out of shelters and into stable placements.” Stated. Support for Newcomers and Immigrants in Denver The website says:
The city of Denver was expected to pay nearly $180 million this year for the immigration crisis, but the savings announcement reduced that amount to $120 million. According to the Colorado Sun.
Venezuelans make up the majority of the more than 40,000 immigrants who have arrived in the Mile High City since 2023, the newspaper said.
Most migrants take buses from the border to Denver, but about 40 to 60 percent take another bus to other U.S. cities.
“You know, a lot of people arrive in Denver with no intention of coming to Denver,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. They had just been put on a bus and this was their first stop. ”
“We need more people to realize the amount of immigrants Denver has welcomed and the availability of jobs and housing that existed six months ago is not what it is today. I am aware of that.”
Under the integration plan, first announced on February 28, migrants living in four hotels that will be closed in the coming weeks will be moved to other shelters or more stable housing.
As part of the plan, individuals living in evacuation centers will be given a 14-day stay limit, and families with children will be given a 42-day stay limit.
In February, several far-left New York City Council members called for an end to Mayor Eric Adams’ 60-day cap on immigrants living in Big Apple shelters.
In July, Mr. Adams imposed limits on stays at city-run shelters, saying it was necessary because a surge of migrants crossing the southern border into New York had left little space available.
Denver’s new immigration policy comes as the city faced an influx of 5,000 people in Colorado-area shelters in December and January, with an influx of nearly 200 people daily.
“We’re now below 1,800, the first time we’ve seen numbers this low since September,” Ewing said.
Ewing said the migrants attend clinics that help them obtain legal work permits, and if they are allowed to work, they end up paying their own rent.
“Right now, in the last couple of weeks, we’ve been able to help 1,300 people get work permits,” Ewing told FOX 31 Denver. “That’s a big step.”
Last month, a couple in Massachusetts volunteered their spare space in their home to host an immigrant family and were surprised to find a family of four arriving on their doorstep an hour later.
