Federal government sending Denver $8.6M to assist migrants

The federal government will provide Denver with $8.6 million to help address the city's migrant crisis, officials announced this week.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced earlier this week more than $290 million will be available to 34 non-federal entities across the country for temporary shelter and other migrant-related expenditures. In addition to Denver's allocation, the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management will receive $1.2 million.

U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., asked U.S. Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for financial assistance in May before President Joe Biden’s administration lifted Title 42. The policy addressed public health at the border and was emphasized by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic.

The letter to Mayorkas stated the city and state spent between $20 million and $24 million to assist approximately 8,500 migrant arrivals since December 2022.

“In recent months, the city of Denver and state of Colorado have united to address the immense humanitarian needs of migrants from our southern border – spending millions of dollars to shelter and support these migrants and straining local resources,” Bennet said in a statement. “I’m appreciative that the federal government answered our calls to provide more support to Denver, and we’ll continue to push for more federal support in the days ahead.”

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock also expressed appreciation for the funding.

“I’m thrilled that Homeland Security has granted Denver more funding to cover a portion of the nearly $18 million the city has spent responding to the migrant influx since December,” Hancock said in a statement. “I want to thank Secretary Mayorkas for listening to our calls for support, as well as Sens. Bennet and Hickenlooper and Congresswoman (Diana) DeGette for their tireless advocacy to secure these much-needed funds. We’ve mounted an unprecedented response to this humanitarian crisis over the last seven months, and we look forward to continued conversations with the Biden-Harris Administration about additional assistance.”

The Department of Homeland Security said an additional $72.7 million will be made available later this year in a second round of program funding.

The department stated the U.S. Customs and Border Protection counted 2.7 million migrants seeking entry into the country in fiscal year 2022. It was approximately a 41% increase compared to the previous year. As of May 1, officials estimated one million migrants nationwide sought entry. Since fiscal year 2020, 85% of those migrants entered at the nation’s southwest border.

“Supporting communities is a critical component of DHS’s efforts to manage encounters at the southwest border in a safe, orderly, and humane manner,” a department media release stated. “Previous rounds of funding focused primarily on the needs of border communities, and this round increased funding for interior cities receiving migrants while maintaining a significant percentage for border communities.”