Denver city council approves defund the police cuts - the largest ever in city's budget - to pay for migrant crisis

Denver City Council’s Finance and Governance Committee has approved plans to defund the police to pay for the migrant crisis that is costing the democrat-led city about $89.9 million. 

The finance committee determined that $41 million in cuts from multiple city departments is needed to house migrants on Tuesday, reported KDVR. 

The police department is expected to experience $8.4 million budget cuts, the sheriff’s office could see a $3.8 million cut and the fire department is expected to cut $2.4 million. 

The sanctuary city's progressive Mayor Mike Johnston unveiled the budget proposal last week, allocating $89.9 million to assist incoming undocumented migrants, whom he refers to as 'newcomers.'

The amount will be drawn from approximately $45 million that's used for public programs and services, the rest is coming from city wide budget cuts.

Denver City Council’s Finance and Governance Committee has approved plans to defund the police to pay for the migrant crisis

Mayor Mike Johnston unveiled the budget proposal last week , allocating $89.9 million to assist incoming undocumented migrants

The police department is expected to experience $8.4 million budget cuts to help house the city's migrants

'After more than a year of facing this crisis together, Denver finally has a sustainable plan for treating our newcomers with dignity while avoiding the worst cuts to city services,' Johnston said at the press conference discussing 'Newcomer Operations and 2024 Budget.'

'So many times we were told that we couldn't be compassionate while still being fiscally responsible. Today is proof that our hardest challenges are still solvable, and that together we are the ones who will solve them.'

The proposed budget cuts will now go to the full city council for a vote on April 22, and if passed could go into effect by May 10.

Denver plans to spend the $89.9 million on various migrant assistance programs in 2024, including $3 million to 'Program Administration,' $51.7 million to 'Shelter and Housing,' $9.7 million to 'Supportive Services,' $9.5 million to 'One Time Capital Costs' and $10 million to 'Contingency.'

'Kinda crazy how much of an insult this is to Colorado's residents. You’ve got money for migrants but meanwhile homeless people have ruined downtown and every piece of infrastructure needs attention,' said Spencer Davis on Facebook.

'What about our local homeless, veterans that really need help,' said Michele Santi.

'Put that 89 million into the schools instead,' said Quin Williams. 

The Colorado capital has become inundated with new migrants crossing over the border - despite the fact the city is already at the brink in terms of resources.

According to the city's migrant sheltering dashboard, 78 migrants are being housed in short-term shelter and 710 are being housed in hotels, as of Thursday

With more than 40,000 arrivals in 2023 alone, the influx of migrants has contributed to a total migrant population of around 710,000 in the city

Denver has already spent over $42 million on migrant housing and medical services in 2023 and anticipates exceeding $100 million for similar expenses in 2024

According to the city's migrant sheltering dashboard, 78 migrants are being housed in short-term shelter and 710 are being housed in hotels, as of Thursday.

With more than 40,000 arrivals in 2023 alone, the influx of migrants has contributed to a total migrant population of around 710,000 in the city.

In response, Denver has already spent over $42 million on migrant housing and medical services in 2023 and anticipates exceeding $100 million for similar expenses in 2024.

City official Andres Carrea recently urged migrant families to move on to other sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago, warning them that a lack of resources in Colorado would cause them to 'suffer.' 

'The opportunities are over,' Carrera told recent arrivals inside a migrant shelter in Spanish. 'New York gives you more. Chicago gives you more. So I suggest you go there where there is longer-term shelter. There are also more job opportunities there.'

In the footage, Carerra tells the crowd that Denver has 'received too many migrants' and has since run out of resources.

City official Andres Carrea recently urged migrant families to move on to other sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been sending migrants from the Mexican border to Democrat-led sanctuary cities such as Denver for over a year

'If you stay here, you are going to suffer even more and I don’t want to see this,' he says.

Carerra then professes that officials will buy migrants tickets 'to any city. We can take you up to the Canadian border, wherever!'

The migrants in the video were bused into Denver on March 26, according to a city spokesperson, as part of an effort coordinated by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Abbott has been sending migrants from the Mexican border to Democrat-led sanctuary cities for over a year in an attempt to incite mass fury over the Biden administration's border policy.

As of March, there have been a total of 1,340,801 southwest land border encounters for the 2024 fiscal year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.