Immigrant shelters in the sanctuary city of Denver, Colorado, have reached capacity and are beginning to turn families away. fox news digital Reported this week.
Approximately 800 immigrant families currently living in shelters in Denver will be forced to leave as new immigrants continue to flow into the city, the news organization said. City officials reported that 140 members of the family were evicted from the shelter on Monday. Over the next few weeks, remaining families will be forced to find alternative accommodation. newsweek It reported that the forced evictions could affect more than 3,000 people.
The city of Denver has begun tightening occupancy restrictions as evacuation centers have reached capacity with approximately 3,813 people. As of February 5, the city says it has provided $42 million worth of assistance to 38,380 immigrants. It estimates that the increased financial burden could force the city to cut “up to $180 million from its annual budget.”
Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston said last week that “every available hotel room in the city and county of Denver has been filled.”
“We have made the terrible decision that if we don’t start removing people now, today or the day after tomorrow we will have 250 people arriving with nowhere to go for the night,” he added.
Johnston’s press secretary, Jordan Fuja, told Barron’s that “there is no shelter” in Denver.
“We are short-staffed and facing a budget deficit of up to $180 million to cover shelter costs,” Huja said. “If the federal government fails to deliver common-sense support to cities, cities like Denver will see significant budget cuts and significant reductions in protection services for immigrants.”
“Denver is facing a humanitarian and financial crisis due to an influx of people into the city and limited resources,” Huja added.
Laura Swartz, a spokeswoman for the Denver Department of Treasury, said the city is already drawing money from its emergency reserves to cover the cost of migrant crisis assistance. These funds are expected to run out around April.
Hospitals in the city are also feeling the strain. Fox News Digital reported that the Denver Health Department serves 8,000 undocumented immigrants and recorded about 20,000 visits last year. The news agency said the migrants received services such as emergency rooms, primary care, dental care and childbirth. As a result, the Denver Health System faces a $22 million financial shortfall.
grass Earlier this week, we reported that other Colorado cities are not actively working to help Denver.
Ryan Trujillo, the Colorado Springs mayor’s deputy chief of staff for operations, said his city “definitely will.”[es] We don’t want to welcome this crisis into our community. ”
“We know Denver is in a crisis, but we don’t have the resources to house the influx of immigrants,” Trujillo said.
Meanwhile, Lakewood residents are concerned that city officials plan to turn their community into another sanctuary city.
said Lakewood resident Karen Morgan. KDVR Instead of using the word “sanctuary,” officials say they are using words such as “good neighbor, welcome, inclusion, support, and protection.”
City officials denied this rumor, saying, “Lakewood City Council is not considering designating Lakewood as a ‘sanctuary city.'”
“To be clear, the City Council has never discussed becoming a sanctuary city during my time on the council,” said Mayor Wendy Strom.
“I met with city officials and there was no desire to house immigrants in Lakewood,” Strom continued. “This has caused a lot of unnecessary frustration and anger in our community. We are not making big sweeping changes like this. And these are the things we If you’re going to do that, that’s the change you’re going to bring to the public.” But that’s not happening. ”
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