Denver will stop emergently responding to migrants, shifting to a sustainable response
DENVER (KDVR) — Denver is reporting 80% fewer migrants in city-run shelters than two months ago, but the municipality is still changing how it will handle the newcomers.
According to the city’s migrant sheltering and support dashboard, the city is sheltering under 1,000 migrants for the first time since August 2023. But after Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said the city could spend up to $180 million on migrant sheltering in 2024, the city is pivoting to a new, long-term, sustainable response.
One change is Denver’s Newcomer Program Director Sarah Plastino, who told FOX31’s Matt Mauro that the city is no longer responding to the migrant crisis with an “emergency” response.
“My priority, coming into this job, is that we are transitioning this response to one that is more fiscally sustainable, smaller in scale in terms of dollar amounts, and the mayor has said that publically, that is his goal,” Plastino said.
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What exactly the new response plan entails is not yet public, but Plastino made it clear that the city intends to stop spending so much money on the migrant response. The city has already spent over $61 million on migrant aid for nearly 40,000 migrants who have arrived in the city since migrant sheltering began over a year ago.
Earlier this year, the city announced it was cutting $5 million from the budget, starting with Parks and Recreation and the Department of Motor Vehicles. Denver also has been limiting how long migrants can stay in shelters, topping out at 42 days, and decommissioning shelters. This means nearly 500 people previously in shelters were “timed out” of shelters.
The city says this population is not pushed into the streets and left to be homeless, but that most are working with the city or nonprofits for transitional and long-term housing. But without job authorizations, long-term strategies are few and far between.
A few migrant encampments are still noticeable around the city, including one by Elitch Gardens. On Thursday, Denver gave the people staying there notice that it would be clearing tents from the area in one week. The city also said it has shelter space and is offering beds to everyone at the encampment.
However, Plastino says many migrants have said “thanks, but no thanks.”
“We’re doing everything we can to ensure that they have safe options available to them, but at the end of the day, they’re individuals with their own decision-making abilities and they can decline to accept our offer but it’s not for lack of trying,” Plastino explained.
As Denver continues to handle the incoming migrants, Johnston met with Tom Perez, senior adviser to President Joe Biden and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs for a roundtable discussion on the city’s efforts to support newcomers. Johnston has previously sought federal funds to ensure the city’s migrant response is supported.
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