In the past year, nearly 40,000 migrants come to Denver, making the city the top destination per capita for migrants bused from the Texas border, NBC News reported.
The flood of migrants has hit the city of a little over 710,000 residents hard, straining Denver’s social safety net. As a result, on February 5, the city began limiting the number of days migrants can stay in shelters before they are sent onto the streets.
Mayor Mike Johnston estimated that the city would require $100 million to cover the cost of housing, healthcare, education, and other social services in 2024 as a result of the arriving migrants.
Denver Health, the city’s “safety net” hospital, has requested more funding from both the state of Colorado and the federal government to help cover the cost of unpaid medical bills from migrants, which currently stands at about $10 million.
Denver Health’s Chief of Government and Community Affairs, Dr. Steven Federico, told NBC News that the hospital has reached out for help from federal and state agencies. He said so far, it has been unclear just who should be responsible for the healthcare of the arriving migrants. In the meantime, Federico said, the responsibility has fallen on “safety net hospitals like Denver Health.”
A DHS spokesperson told NBC News in a statement that DHS was continuing to work with Denver to help welcome the “recently arrived migrants” and would continue to call on Congress to approve a Homeland Security supplemental request to provide the resources needed to manage the flow of migrants “in a humane, safe, and orderly manner” while offering cities throughout the United States “the financial support they need.”
The Biden administration has requested an additional $1.4 billion from Congress to provide grants to local governments and NGOs to provide temporary shelter, food, and other services to migrants.
Republicans have insisted that no additional funding would be made available unless the White House and congressional Democrats agree to measures to clamp down on the flow of migrants over the southern border.