Denver sends flyers to border towns telling asylum seekers to stay away after 21,000 arrivals this year

Denver’s liberal government has asked officials in border cities to hand out flyers urging asylum seekers to stay away from Colorado’s capital after 21,000 new migrants arrived this year.

Like several liberal cities like Chicago and NYC, the City of Mile High is struggling with migrants being bused north by conservative governors trying to make a point about what they say are Democratic open-border policies. The city currently has about 2,510 migrants living in temporary shelters and has spent about $26 million on the crisis.

Matthew Mueller, the executive director of the Office of Emergency Management, has asked officials in Brownsville, El Paso, Houston and Dallas to let migrants know that Denver “can no longer provide the same level of shelter for newly arrived individuals.”

The flyers include messages such as, “Denver’s resources are depleted,” “the city cannot provide long-term shelter,” and “housing in Denver is very expensive and there are not many affordable housing options available.”

Denver is following the action of fellow sanctuary city New York, which has also sent fliers to the border warning migrants they won’t get free housing in the Big Apple — and telling them to go somewhere more affordable because the sanctuary city is overwhelmed. with 116,000 newcomers in just 18 months.

The flyers include messages such as: ‘Denver’s resources are depleted’

Migrants heading north line up to take a boat in Bajo Chiquito in Panama’s Darien Province, Thursday, October 5, 2023, after walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia

In January, Mayor Eric Adams accused Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis of launching a “dishonest” plan to send an influx of migrants to the Big Apple. According to The Colorado Sun, more than 18,400 migrants have come to Denver since Christmas 2022, and 6,739 of them have been bused to other cities such as Chicago and New York.

In an effort to ease the crisis, Denver’s local government last week announced plans to limit the amount of time individual migrants can stay in temporary shelters, while extending the time limit for families.

The city also requested help from the Colorado National Guard, but because no emergency was declared, state officials sent civilian workers instead, The Denver Post reported.

“Over the past week, the daily average of new arrivals was nearly 300,” city officials said this week. “These unprecedented numbers are up sharply from mid-September, when the daily average of new arrivals in Denver was 125 and the population was 1,200.”

Liberal cities like Denver have made a sea change when it comes to accepting new immigrants.

Denver’s local government announced plans last week to limit the amount of time individual migrants can stay in temporary shelters, while extending the time limit for families.

The city has also requested assistance from the Colorado National Guard

The city currently has about 2,510 migrants living in temporary shelters and has spent about $26 million on the crisis

New York Mayor Eric Adams traveled to Mexico this week to discourage asylum seekers from traveling to the city because it is “full.”

On Tuesday, the desperate mayor also pleaded with a judge to end the city’s long-standing “right to shelter” law, asking that it be nullified in the event of a state of emergency.

The city has been pushing for months to suspend the policy amid the wave of migrants, arguing that the requirement was never intended to be applied to a humanitarian crisis like the latest influx.

Adam’s plea and his trip to Mexico to discourage migrants show a stunning turnaround early in the crisis when he went to the Port Authority to welcome a bus full of asylum seekers sent from Texas by Republican Governor Gregg Abbot.

Abt argued at the time that progressive cities must also bear the costs of the influx of asylum seekers crossing the southern border.

Chicago has received more than 8,000 migrants since August, and city leaders have warned of a developing humanitarian crisis. Officials say the number of daily arrivals in the Windy City has increased tenfold in recent weeks. Asylum seekers sleep in airports and police stations because the shelters of the reception city run out of space.

Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson wrote a letter to President Biden saying the situation has overwhelmed the city and its ability to help the asylum seekers. They are asking the federal government for financial support and a waiver of fees for migrants’ work permits.

“Twice as many Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Chicago. The difference is that these Ukrainian refugees have federal dollars to follow them. We don’t see that with Venezuelan refugees,” said 35th Ward Councilman Carlos Ramirez Rosa, according to ABC7.

Border crossings continue to increase – preliminary data obtained by found Border Patrol agents last month recorded an estimated 210,000 apprehensions

The number of apprehensions in September is the highest since December 2022, when 222,000 migrants were apprehended

Like New Yorkers, Chicagoans have resisted turning landmarks into emergency shelters. Some even asked city officials to close the city’s borders, while Mayor Johnson quietly signed a $29 million contract with a security company to build base camps for migrants.

Elite liberal hub Martha’s Vineyard, one of the sanctuary cities chosen by conservative governors to transport migrants, has also said there is no room for asylum seekers in the billionaire enclave.

Last year, homelessness director Lisa Belcastro claimed that 50 migrants flown in by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would have to go elsewhere. The asylum seekers were put on a bus by Liberal Governor Charlie Baker and taken with a police escort to Joint Base on Cape Cod, 52 miles from Martha’s Vineyard.

El Paso’s Democrat mayor, Oscar Leeser, also sent thousands to sanctuary cities last year, with Adams asking him to stop.

And this week, the Biden administration reversed its rejection of a border wall.

In a shocking announcement Wednesday evening, the Department of Homeland Security said it is waiving 26 federal laws to begin building a new “physical barrier” started under Donald Trump.

The Biden White House has consistently condemned Trump’s harsh migration policies and even canceled wall construction when Biden took office.

Meanwhile, border crossings continue to increase – preliminary data obtained by found Border Patrol agents last month recorded an estimated 210,000 apprehensions – the third highest number on record.

The number of apprehensions in September is the highest since December 2022, when 222,000 migrants were apprehended, the second highest monthly figure ever.

According to data from CBS News, two million illegal migrants were intercepted crossing the border in the 2023 budget year, which ends at the end of September. That is the second highest annual figure ever recorded.