Denver, a city under Democratic administration, is grappling with a significant influx of migrants, leading to a severe shortage of shelter space.
The situation has become so dire that city officials have had to resort to evicting thousands to make room for new arrivals.
"Every single hotel room that we have available in the city and county of Denver is filled," Mayor Mike Johnston announced at a town hall meeting last week. He added, "We now face the terrible decision that if we don't start exiting folks, we will have 250 folks arriving today or the day after, with nowhere to go at night."
In November, the city had halted migrant evictions due to concerns about the cold weather. However, this pause ended on Monday, permitting the city to evict migrants from shelters if they have resided in the temporary housing for more than six weeks. On that day, approximately 140 migrant families were ousted from their accommodations. In the coming weeks, 660 families are expected to face the same fate, likely affecting more than 3,000 individuals, according to Newsweek. Over the next two months, an estimated 50 to 60 families will be forced out each day.
"Our city workers have done heroic work helping newcomers land on their feet and start to build a life in Denver, but we are out of shelter space," Jordan Fuja, the mayor's press secretary, told Newsweek. He added, "We are out of staff and we are facing a budget deficit of up to $180 million to cover sheltering costs."
Despite the evictions, city officials anticipate the total number of migrants residing at shelters to remain steady between 4,000 to 5,000 as more continue to arrive, as reported by 9 News.
The city is already tapping into its contingency reserves to subsidize migrant-related costs, according to Laura Swartz, a spokeswoman for the Denver Department of Finance. However, these funds are expected to cover costs only until April. Mayor Johnston estimates that the city will require $100 million over the year to cover housing, schooling, health care, and other services amid the migrant surge.
"We don't want to take police officers off the streets," Johnston told CNN. "We don't want to take firefighters off the street. We don't want to not do trash pickup or not have our parks and recreation centers open." However, he warned that the city will need to find the funds somewhere in the budget if the migrant crisis persists.
Over the past year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has sent 157,000 migrants to Denver. In the city, approximately 8,000 migrants recorded 20,000 visits to Denver Health, receiving services such as emergency room treatment, primary care, dental care, and childbirth, without being able to pay, according to Fox News. These visits have contributed to the hospital system being $22 million in the red.
At the same time, nearly 3,000 migrant children, primarily from Venezuela, have joined the Denver Public School system since July, according to Adrienne Endres, who oversees multilingual education.
"Denver is facing humanitarian and fiscal crises with the influx of arrivals to our city and limited resources," Fuja said.
In a bid to find a solution, Mayor Johnston recently traveled to Washington, D.C., accompanied by Colorado Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, to call for more federal aid and expedited work authorizations for the migrants.
In the meantime, the city is "doing everything possible," according to Ewing. The city is striving to ensure that people are getting into a better situation and not returning to the streets, Fuja noted. As part of this effort, the city is purchasing bus tickets to send migrant families to other American cities. In January alone, the city bought more than 2,000 bus tickets, sending families to other destinations within the U.S., primarily New York or Chicago.
Denver is also operating seven migrant shelters for newcomers and is partnering with the Archdiocese of Denver to provide bridge housing. It now operates two shelters for migrants who were formerly experiencing homelessness.
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