The city of Denver announced resources breaks to some agencies this year, including the police, judge, and fire departments, to allocate more money for unlawful immigrants who have overwhelmed Colorado’s money.
Political Denver Mayor Mike Johnston made the announcement on Wednesday, applauding the move as a means of avoiding” the worst-case budget cut scenarios.” The” Newcomer Program Strategy” is a nearly$ 90 million budget plan that funds aid and sheltering for illegal immigrants through the rest of 2024, Fox 31 reported. To pay for the illegal immigrant plan, the Democrat- run city will cut police spending by$ 8.4 million and fire department spending by$ 2.5 million, while the Sheriff’s Department will be hit with a 2.2 % reduction.
Denver ultimately has a green strategy for treating our newcomers with dignity while avoiding the worst cuts to city services, Johnston said.” After more than a year of facing this crisis together, Denver ultimately has a green plan for treating our newcomers with dignity.” We were told repeatedly that we could n’t be compassionate while remaining fiscally responsible. Today serves as proof that even our most difficult problems can still be resolved and that we are the ones who will work together to solve them.
An estimated 40, 000 immigrants who had arrived in the city over the course of a few months were reportedly found in Denver scrambled earlier this year. By requiring that migrant families leave a shelter after staying for six weeks, the mayor took action to help ease the strain on migrant shelters.
Johnston’s office said in January that the migrant influx was” straining capacity” and that “over the past two months, Denver has seen a dramatic uptick in arrivals and is currently sheltering 4, 000 people”. The city would need to find$ 100 million to pay for the crisis, according to the mayor, who added that. Denver, which is a” sanctuary city”, followed up weeks later by booting around 800 migrant families from overcrowded shelters.
According to Fox 31. The new city budget plan allocates$ 51.7 million for migrant housing and shelter. Another$ 9.7 million will go toward” supportive services”, including case management and workforce training, and$ 6 million will be allocated for migrant transportation.
Budget cuts to help with the illegal immigration crisis led to the mayor’s office’s biggest hit, resulting in a 9.6 % decrease in spending. Other city departments taking a budget hit include the City Attorney’s Office, Economic Development, Public Health and Environment, and the Public Library, among others.
The” Newcomer Program Strategy” in Denver comes as Colorado voters express their frustration with the border crisis as residents recently listed immigration as the top issue for the 2024 election.
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Republican pollster Lori Wiegel remarked,” Immigration is emerging as a top issue among voters in Colorado follows trends that we are seeing in research nationally.
In recent presidential elections, Colorado has become a Democratic hotspot. In 2020, President Biden defeated former president Donald Trump by nearly 14 points, which is a significant increase over Democrat support from 2016, when Hillary Clinton won by just five.
Denver is not the first blue city to be forced to cut spending to address the problem of illegal immigration. Last year, New York City cut education and police spending, dropping the number of NYPD officers to below 30, 000. The Big Apple has seen over 150, 000 migrants flood its streets since 2022 as the border crisis continues under the Biden administration.
