The effort to shelter and support the more than 6,300 immigrants from South and Central America who have arrived in Denver since December cost the city $12.7 million, officials said Thursday.
Beginning May 8, the city will no longer offer shelter to migrants who haven't been processed by immigration authorities.
Federal funding is limited to supporting those who have had encounters with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to officials with the Denver Mass Care Departmental Operations Center for the Department of Human Services.
“This response has been in alignment with the city’s values of inclusion, acceptance, and opportunity to maintain a welcoming city where everyone can feel safe and thrive,” city officials said in a press release. “While Denver’s values have remained intact throughout this response, the ongoing reliance on the city’s contingency budget is not financially sustainable.”
It is unclear how much of the money spent responding to the deluge of immigrants will not be reimbursed to the city.
The city has received at least $1.5 million in state assistance and has sought help from private partners and the federal government.
In early March, the Joint Information Center and the Emergency Operations Center was deactivated, turning over responsibility for the response to the Denver Department of Human Services (DHS).
Mike Strott, a spokesperson for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, referred questions to DHS, who did not respond The Denver Gazette by press time.
During the height of the migration to Denver, the city saw busloads of immigrants from El Paso, Texas arrive with nearly half coming between Dec. 19 and Jan. 3, city data shows.
At the peak, more than 1,000 immigrants were being sheltered in city facilities. Since February, the city has transferred the responsibility for sheltering immigrants to nonprofit partners and religious organizations.
Denver has seen an influx of immigrants — mostly Venezuelans fleeing hunger and political violence — since early December, when nearly 100 migrants turned up downtown at Union Station.
The scores of fleeing immigrants is symptomatic of the U.S. border crisis with Mexico, with the calamity spilling over into other cities, including Denver.
The vast majority of the newly arrived are believed to have stopped in Denver on their way to somewhere else with New York, Illinois and Florida among the most popular final destinations.
The city will continue connecting immigrants with support services and recourses, according to city officials.
