The Denver City Council’s Finance and Governance Committee approved plans to defund the police to pay for the immigration crisis that is costing the Democratic-led city about $89.9 million.
The finance committee determined Tuesday that $41 million in cuts are needed from various city departments to house immigrants, it reported. KDVR.
The police department is expected to see budget cuts of $8.4 million, the sheriff’s office could see a $3.8 million cut and the fire department is expected to reduce $2.4 million.
The sanctuary city’s progressive mayor, Mike Johnston, unveiled the budget proposal last week, allocating $89.9 million to help incoming undocumented immigrants, whom he refers to as “newcomers.”
The amount will be drawn from approximately $45 million that is used for public programs and services, the rest comes from citywide budget cuts.
The Denver City Council’s Finance and Governance Committee approved plans to defund the police to pay for the immigration crisis.
Mayor Mike Johnston unveiled the budget proposal last week, allocating $89.9 million to help incoming undocumented immigrants.
The police department is expected to see $8.4 million in budget cuts to help house the city’s immigrants.
“After more than a year of facing this crisis together, Denver finally has a sustainable plan to treat our newcomers with dignity while avoiding the worst cuts to city services,” Johnston said at the press conference. on “Newcomer Operations and 2024 Budget.”
‘Many times we were told that we could not be compassionate and at the same time be fiscally responsible. Today is proof that our most difficult challenges still have solutions and that together we are the ones who will solve them.’
The proposed budget cuts will now go to the full city council for a vote on April 22 and, if approved, could take effect on May 10.
Denver plans to spend the $89.9 million on various migrant assistance programs in 2024, including $3 million for ‘Program Management,’ $51.7 million for ‘Shelter and Housing,’ $9.7 million for ‘Support Services,’ and $9.5 million for ‘One-time capital costs’. and 10 million dollars for ‘Contingency’.
‘It’s kind of crazy what an insult this is to Colorado residents. “There is money for immigrants, but in the meantime the homeless have ruined the city center and every piece of infrastructure needs attention,” Spencer Davis said on Facebook.
“What about our local homeless veterans who really need help?” said Michele Santi.
“Let’s put that $89 million into schools instead,” Quin Williams said.
Colorado’s capital has been inundated with new immigrants crossing the border, even though the city is already on the brink in terms of resources.
According to the city’s migrant shelter panel, as of Thursday, 78 migrants were housed in short-term shelters and 710 in hotels.
With more than 40,000 arrivals in 2023 alone, the influx of migrants has contributed to a total migrant population of around 710,000 in the city.
Denver has already spent more than $42 million on migrant housing and medical services in 2023 and anticipates surpassing $100 million for similar spending in 2024.
According to the city’s migrant shelter panel, as of Thursday, 78 migrants were housed in short-term shelters and 710 were housed in hotels.
With more than 40,000 arrivals in 2023 alone, the influx of migrants has contributed to a total migrant population of around 710,000 in the city.
In response, Denver has already spent more than $42 million on migrant housing and medical services in 2023 and anticipates surpassing $100 million for similar spending in 2024.
City official Andrés Carrea recently urged immigrant families to move to other sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago, warning them that the lack of resources in Colorado would make them “suffer.”
“The opportunities are over,” Carrera told the new arrivals in Spanish inside a migrant shelter. ‘New York gives you more. Chicago gives you more. So I suggest you go where there is long-term shelter. There are also more job opportunities there.”
In the footage, Carerra tells the crowd that Denver has “taken in too many immigrants” and has since been left without resources.
City official Andrés Carrea recently urged migrant families to move to other sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been sending migrants from the Mexico border to Democrat-led sanctuary cities like Denver for more than a year.
“If you stay here, you’re going to suffer even more and I don’t want to see this,” he says.
Carerra then professes that officials will buy immigrants tickets “to any city.” We can take you to the Canadian border, wherever!’
The migrants in the video were bussed to Denver on March 26, according to a city spokesperson, as part of an effort coordinated by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Abbott has been sending migrants from the Mexican border to Democratic-led sanctuary cities for more than a year in an attempt to incite mass anger over the Biden administration’s border policy.
As of March, there have been a total of 1,340,801 encounters at the southwest land border for fiscal year 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.