Democratic-led cities pay for migrants’ tickets to other places as resources dwindle
DENVER — As weary migrants arrive in Denver on buses from the U.S.-Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas, officials are offering them two options: temporary shelter or a bus ticket.
Nearly half of the 27,000 migrants who have arrived in Denver since November 2022 have opted for bus, plane or train tickets to other U.S. cities, city data shows. In New York and Illinois, taxpayer dollars are also being spent on tickets, creating a flood of migrants across the U.S. interior who need shelter, food and medical care while awaiting rulings on asylum cases that could take years.
Migrant transfers have accelerated since Republican governors in Texas and Florida began chartering buses and planes to Democratic-run cities, in what critics depicted as political stunts. More than a year later, with resources dwindling, some of these cities are eager to help migrants move on to their final destinations.
The efforts highlight the mounting pressure cities face as more migrants from around the world flock to the U.S. southern border, often fleeing economic turmoil. The number of illegal border crossings exceeded two million during the government’s budget year ending September 30, the second highest on record.
With many migrants in shelters or living on the streets, the next phase of the challenge is getting them to their families, friends or court cases, said Mario Russell, director of the Center for Migration Studies of New York.
That “in a sense fell into the lap of the inner cities without a lot of preparation, without a lot of thought, at any level,” Russell added.
Denver alone has spent at least $4.3 million in city funds to send migrants to other U.S. cities, freeing up shelter beds for new arrivals, while numbers in other Democratic-led cities such as Chicago and New York, which are struggling to find asylum housing will be expanded. seekers, mainly from Venezuela.
No data was yet available from New York, although the city offers one-way airfare to anywhere in the world. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago have used state funds to buy tickets for more than 2,500 migrants who have family, friends or sponsors elsewhere, Chief of Staff Mary Krinock said.
The cities say they only buy tickets for migrants who want to travel and that they do not force people to leave. Texas and Florida have chartered buses and planes to take migrants to certain cities only. They say people board voluntarily.
“The people who are desperate, who are coming here for shelter and help, we’re not going to turn those people away,” said Jon Ewing with Denver Human Service. “But at the same time, we have to make it very clear to them that we can only do so much.”
Advocates for working with migrants say many come to Denver on their way to other cities because of its relative proximity to the border, reputation for hospitality and cheaper bus fare.
But charities are feeling the pressure as the weather turns colder and migrants end up sleeping in tent camps.
“It breaks my heart. It’s like we have so many children and little ones that we know we can’t even help,” said Yoli Casas, executive director of Vive Wellness, which works with new migrants to Denver.
“There’s just no more room. There is no more financing. There is nothing. We are not prepared,” she said.
Denver has purchased nearly 3,000 tickets to Chicago and 2,300 to New York, nearly half of the more than 12,000 tickets the city has purchased for migrants since November 2022. The vast majority were bus tickets, but Denver also bought about 340 tickets for flights and 200 tickets for migrants. for train rides.
About a thousand tickets were destined for Texas and Florida, whose governors have sent chartered buses and planes carrying migrants to Democratic-run “sanctuary cities” that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Russell of the Center for Migration Studies said more communication between cities is needed to ensure that “people go where it is most appropriate, rather than potentially going in circles and circles, from one city to another. ”
“That doesn’t help anyone,” he added.
Tensions between political leaders flared in January when Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, chartered buses for migrants to Chicago. Then-Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot and New York Mayor Eric Adams wrote a letter urging Polis to quit, saying that “overburdening other cities is not the solution.”
Cities including Denver, New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles have recently formed a united front, with their mayors heading to Washington DC to meet with President Joe Biden and ask for more help.
“You have mayors across the country grappling with these international crises and we need the federal government to do more,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who took office in May, told reporters this month.
Ewing gave a similar message about El Paso’s busing of migrants to Denver, saying the two cities have been in contact.
“They were overwhelmed,” Ewing said, “we certainly didn’t encourage it, but we understand.”
The mayor of El Paso is a Democrat and the practice of chartering buses for migrants is separate from that of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whose office says it has sent a total of more than 50,000 migrants to Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Los. Angeles since August 2022 to highlight Biden’s border policies.
Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris said the governor is acting “to provide relief to our overwhelmed border cities.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gained attention last year by flying migrants from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. This year, state lawmakers approved $12 million in funding for Florida’s Migrant Relocation Initiative.
In Denver, the millions spent on tickets for migrants have reduced shelter costs, which have risen to more than $31 million, thanks largely to federal aid with state support. But the city also recently instituted shelter-in-place limits.
Migrants without children have two weeks in city-run shelters, while families have more than five weeks. The city has also sent flyers to border towns warning migrants that the Rocky Mountain metropolis has expensive housing and no shelter.
In Massachusetts. Democratic Gov. Maura Healey has set a threshold of 7,500 families in emergency shelters. New York City and Chicago are also restricting where migrants can stay.
A pair of Chicago City Council members want to gauge voter support for ending its “sanctuary city” status by repealing an ordinance that bans municipal workers from questioning immigration statistics, prohibits law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities and ensures that city services are available to everyone.
“We have other Democratic cities, Denver, California, LA, sending their people to Chicago, New York. They send their migrants to Chicago. Why? Because they say, ‘We can’t handle anymore.’ Chicago has yet to say, ‘We can’t do it anymore,'” Councilman Anthony Beale, who has supported the ballot measure, said at a recent council meeting. “We have to draw the line somewhere.”
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Associated Press writer Sophia Tareen contributed from Chicago.
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Bedayn is a staff member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.