Denver mayor cuts services in response to city’s migrant crisis
(WISH) — The mayor of Denver on Friday announced the city will cut hours at recreation centers, end in-person vehicle registration renewals, and eliminate spring flowerbeds to save $5 million this year, a response to the migrant crisis that is expected to cost the city $180 million.
The Colorado Sun reports about 40,000 migrants have arrived in Denver over the past year, and more than 3,500 are living in city-funded hotel rooms. According to the paper, Mayor Mike Johnston “blasted Congress” for failing this week to pass a $118.3 billion bill aimed at stopping the flow of illegal entry at the southern border and making it easier for migrants who enter legally to get work permits.
“I want to thank every resident in the city who has showed up to cook a meal for someone who has arrived, who has welcomed somebody to their home, who has offered them a job, who said, ‘We will help you find your way,’” the Democrat mayor said during an emotional news conference in which he got choked up more than once. “You’ve done your part. The city will do our part. The federal government did not do their part.”
The Sun reports Denver has received more migrants per capita than any other city in the nation and that Johnson said that the budget cuts announced Friday amount to just one-fortieth of what the influx of newcomers will cost the city. No full-time employees will lose their jobs, the mayor said, but some hourly and seasonal workers may have hours cut or positions will be left open.
Statement
“Politics got in the way of a historic, bipartisan compromise that would have addressed the migrant crisis.
“I’m incredibly proud of what our city has already done to meet the challenge. But now, without federal support, we enter a new phase of this dilemma.
“Today we announced our first department cuts, to the DMV and Parks and Rec. We will continue to evaluate budgets, and we will begin to decrease the number of newcomers we are able to serve.
“Our path forward requires shared sacrifice, but together, we will find a way through. Denver is bigger than this moment.”
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, on Facebook