Deep rooted liberal policies are greatly affecting Denver, Colorado. The sanctuary city announced on Wednesday that it will be taking money from the Denver police department in order to help pay for its drowning resources due to a surge of illegal immigrants.
Specifically, Denver will spend $89.9 million on services for incoming illegal migrants, taking $8.4 million directly from Denver’s police department. The money is part of roughly $45 million in public programs and services. The $8.4 million reduction is about 1.9% of its total operating budget, the city confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The fire department will also suffer a $2.5 million reduction, or about 0.8% of its total operating costs, the city told the DCNF. Half of those reductions will also come from vacant positions.
According to 9 News, the city won’t stop recruiting classes for new police officers or firefighters, but at least one class will have to be conducted at the Denver International Airport, which is paying for the cost of hosting it. 911 operators will also have to be paid differently in order to save the city money.
Among other cuts being made are a budget reduction of 2.2% to the Sheriff’s Department, 1.9% to the Department of Public Health and Environment, 2.4% to the Executive Director of Safety and 3.8% to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, according to Fox 31 Denver.
The Daily Caller News Foundation reports that Denver became the top destination per capita for incoming migrants in 2023, having had more than 40,000 arrive that year alone — putting the total migrant population at roughly 710,000, according to NBC News.
Denver already spent over $42 million in 2023 in housing and medical services for migrants and plans to spend over $100 million on similar costs in 2024. Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston celebrated the new plan on Wednesday, claiming it was the best option available to provide services to migrants while also mitigating city budget cuts.
“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. “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.”