The Democrat-run city of Denver plans to defund its Police Department to pay for illegal immigrants.
Colorado’s capital, commonly referred to as a “sanctuary city,” announced Wednesday that it will spend $89.9 million on services for incoming illegal migrants, pulling some funding from roughly $45 million in public programs and services. The Denver Police Department will be hit with a reduction of $8.4 million— about 1.9% of its total operating budget, the city confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Denver became the top destination per capita for incoming illegal aliens in 2023, having had more than 40,000 arrive that year alone to put the total population of illegal immigrants at roughly 710,000, according to NBC News. Last year, Denver spent over $42 million in housing and medical services for the migrants and plans to spend over $100 million on similar costs this year.
The Denver Fire Department also will suffer a $2.5 million reduction, or about 0.8% of its total operating costs, according to the city. Half of those reductions will come from vacant positions.
Denver 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, according to 9 News. The city’s 911 operators also will have to be paid differently to save money.
“Mayor [Mike] Johnston and the city has invested to add 167 new police recruits to our force in 2024. This puts us on the path to meet the full authorized strength of the Police Department and improve our ability to respond to 911 calls and follow up on investigations across the city,” Johnston’s office told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
One of the most severe cuts will come from the Democrat mayor’s office, which will lose about $335,155 in funding, or about 9.6% of its operating budget, according to 9 News. Among other budget cuts: reductions of 2.2% to the Sheriff’s Department; 1.9% to the Department of Public Health and Environment; 2.4% to the office of Executive Director of Public Safety Armando Saldate III; and 3.8% to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, according to Fox 31 Denver.
Johnston, a Democrat, celebrated the new plan Wednesday, contending that it was the best option available to provide services to illegal aliens while also mitigating budget cuts. He called the illegal immigrants “newcomers.”
“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.”
Over 15,000 illegal aliens have flooded into Denver since May 2023 as a result of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s effort to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities such as New York, Chicago, and Denver. The Lone Star State sits at the epicenter of the illegal immigration crisis.
More broadly, illegal immigration in cities and states across the U.S. has surged under the Biden administration.
Federal agents encountered roughly 1.6 million illegal aliens at the northern and southern borders in fiscal year 2021, over 2 million in fiscal 2023, and roughly 1 million in the first five months of fiscal 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
Originally published by the Daily Signal News Foundation
