Blue city plans to defund its police force to pay for illegal immigrants

The Democratic-run city of Denver, Colorado, plans to defund its police department to pay for illegal immigrants.

Denver, which is commonly referred to as a “sanctuary city,” announced on Wednesday that it will spend $89.9 million on services for incoming illegal migrants, pulling some of the funding from roughly $45 million in public programs and services. Denver’s police department will be hit with an $8.4 million reduction — 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 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.

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.

Today, we shared a new budget and a more sustainable newcomer program.

Proud of our city for welcoming those most in need. Proud of our city teams who found ways to minimize budget without major impacts.

More on this announcement: https://t.co/ULGYHfPJFn pic.twitter.com/AErsLXhvTr

— Mayor Mike Johnston (@MikeJohnstonCO) April 11, 2024

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, according to 9 News. 911 operators will also have to be paid differently in order to save the city money.

“Mayor Johnston and the city have 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 DCNF.

One of the most severe cuts will come from Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston’s office, which will lose about $335,155 in funding for the plan, or about 9.6% of its total operating budget, according to 9 News. 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.

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.”

Over 15,000 migrants have flooded into Denver since May 2023 as a result of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s busing effort. 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. There were roughly 1.6 million migrant encounters at the northern and southern border in fiscal year 2021, compared to over 2 million in fiscal year 2023 and roughly a million in the first five months of fiscal year 2024, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comments from the mayor’s office.

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