Colorado City Halts Funding for Migrants

Officials in Aurora, Colorado, have halted financial assistance for migrants, blaming the state and federal government for a lack of funding.

Besides border states such as Texas, Arizona and California, Colorado has borne the brunt of undocumented individuals entering the country. The state capital, Denver, has received more migrants per capita than any other U.S. city not bordering Mexico, spending more than $58 million to support over 38,860 migrants, of which an estimated $12 million will be reimbursed by the federal government. The state and the federal Department of Homeland Security have provided just over $5 million.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, has previously sympathized with Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas over his requests for assistance from the Biden administration to properly address the surging numbers of migrants.

The mayor said earlier this month that his city was running "out of space" and money to deal with over 38,000 people seeking housing and other assistance. The city has enough contingency funds available until April, officials said.

On Monday, the City Council in Aurora, just east of Denver, voted 7-3 to approve a resolution disallowing the busing of migrants and those experiencing homelessness into the city.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman told Newsweek on Tuesday that Denver is both a city and a county and in its latter capacity, it has funding for human services programs that the city does not.

The city of Aurora has never used any public funds for migrant support, he added, though it encourages individuals and nonprofit organizations to help anyone in need.

"I didn't like the language of the resolution and asked the sponsors to pull it and allow me to work with them," Coffman said.

"But they wanted to move forward anyway, although they did accept an amendment that removed the section requiring intergovernmental agreements before immigrants, or individuals experiencing homelessness, can be moved into our city. If passed, this provision would most likely be unenforceable," he said.

The mayor continued: "Our elected leaders in Washington, D.C., made this mess, and it is their responsibility to clean it up by passing a comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders and fixes our broken immigration system. Until then, the federal government must assume responsibility for all costs associated with the support of the recently arrived migrants into the Denver Metro area."

The resolution was amended before the vote, removing a provision that would have allowed the city to accept migrants if a financial agreement was reached beforehand, according to Denver's KMGH-TV.

Officials who introduced the resolution on February 16 cited the financial obligations associated with what has become a growing problem of concern across the country.

"We want to simply let our residents know that although we are empathetic towards the plight of such folks, we cannot host them out of pure reality and our financial situation," said Councilman Steve Sundberg.

He said the resolution largely mirrored what officials in Colorado Springs relayed earlier this year.

They, along with officials from El Paso County, were blunt about not being designated as a sanctuary city—saying that the Federal Government must do more to intervene, adding that decisions would be "guided by fiscal responsibility, adherence to legal frameworks, and an unwavering commitment to residents."

The Aurora resolution prevents organizations from bringing migrants within city limits "without an agreement to address the financial impact and coordination of services." No public funds, services or staff resources will be allotted for migrant support.

"Colorado Springs did this five weeks ago," Sundberg said. "We were called racist for doing it. But they didn't attack Colorado Springs or their mayor for doing the exact same thing. They didn't touch the busing part of it.

"But they came to the realization that their budget is finite, and so is ours. We're not going to work against nonprofits. We want them to do the work that they're cut out to do and fundraise for it."

In May 2017, Aurora passed a resolution declaring it was not a sanctuary city.

Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, who co-sponsored the resolution alongside Sundberg, said Aurora should not be held responsible for addressing the issue—in part calling on statewide officials, such as Democratic Governor Jared Polis, and the federal government to do their parts.

"Immigration is not a local issue," Jurinsky said. "Immigration is a federal issue and a state issue. [We're] putting pressure on our governor to show up and even make a statement about this crisis. This does not fall on your local city council to handle immigration."

She also said that Aurora would not mimic what Johnston and officials in Denver have done, spending money on migrant resources while budgets for services and recreation decrease.

A spokesperson for Polis referred Newsweek to recent statements made by Polis on the migrant surge at the southern border.

On Fox News Sunday, Polis told anchor Shannon Bream that it is not a partisan challenge "but an American challenge." He said that Congress needs to fund additional Border Patrol agents and other funding mechanisms.

"Of course when people are entering illegally and we fail to lock down that southern border because Congress can't act, of course, it will increase the demand for housing and that only adds to the cost of housing in communities across the country," said Polis, adding that his state has reduced time for permits and is building additional housing.

On Tuesday while at the White House, Polis told Forbes that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris "really sought to elevate the concerns that we face in the field every day." He said that included immigration and the administration's plans moving forward but did not provide specific details.

Ryan Luby, deputy director of communications for Aurora, echoed Coffman's concerns. He told Newsweek on Tuesday evening that the city focuses its limited resources on delivering services such as police, fire, water, transportation infrastructure and maintenance, recreation and libraries.

"As a city, not a county, Aurora is not structured or funded to provide health and human services to the community," Luby said. "Those services are provided by each of the counties in which Aurora is located.

"For these reasons, the city has never provided direct services or funding to newly arrived migrants, nor does it have a mechanism to track the number who have arrived."

Update 2/28/24, 10:01 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Ryan Luby.