Officials in Denver announced the city has spent almost $25 million to accommodate illegal immigrants who have arrived in the city.
Denver is one of several self-declared sanctuary cities across the United States that have experienced a rise in migrant arrivals over the last two years.
In an email to Fox News Digital, Denver officials said efforts to shelter the migrants have cost a total of $24.8 million. In April, the outlet previously reported Denver spent an average of $1,000 per migrant per week with a cumulative six-month total of $20 million.
The city introduced new limits to migrant shelter stays in January in an effort to manage the emerging crisis. As of Jan. 9, migrants were only permitted to stay in shelters for 14 days.
“From the time they arrive to Denver and throughout their stay in our emergency shelters and our city, migrants are provided resources to connect them with friends and family, transportation, clothing, food, immigration support and other assistance,” a spokesperson from the city’s Joint Information Center told Denver7 in a statement. “Resource navigators are also working with the newly arriving migrants to connect them with housing options and all necessary resources and services including short-term shelter, temporary housing, host families, food, clothing, and benefit programs.”
In July, the Denver City Council rejected a proposal to let private security corporation GardaWorld take over the operation of its migrant shelters at a cost of $40 million.
“Large numbers of migrants and asylum-seekers, originally from Venezuela, began showing up to Denver unannounced in December. Many needed help getting to their next destinations; others wanted to work temporarily; and still others wanted to stay in Colorado. But they needed shelter, bus tickets, food and case management,” reports The Denver Post. “Groups are calling for a more long-term solution and plan because the conditions in Venezuela do not seem to be getting better, and the federal government has yet to fix the United States’ broken immigration system or provide non-border cities with adequate funding.”
The rate of illegal immigrant arrivals has fluctuated from month to month. In December, Mayor Michael Hancock declared a state of emergency as hundreds of immigrants began arriving in Denver. Hancock called the surge a potential “local humanitarian crisis,” per The Colorado Sun.
The arrival rate subsequently surged and, by Jan. 2, the city was housing 1,846 migrants. Between Dec. 1 and Feb. 15, 4,737 immigrants had arrived in the city. The arrival rate reportedly peaked in May, when roughly 300 immigrants arrived in the city each day from the southern border.
As of Sept. 20, Denver reports it has served 18,514 illegal immigrants in total.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Sept. 13 that he had bused more than 37,400 migrants who had entered through the U.S.-Mexico border to major cities across the country. His total included helping more than 1,300 migrants reach Denver.
