One Colorado city reaffirmed that it is not a sanctuary city as tens of thousands of illegal migrants pour into the state.
The city council of Aurora, which sits just east of Denver, approved a resolution in a 7-3 vote on Monday demanding that large groups of migrants not be transported there since it is unable to fund new services for migrants or homeless people.
“The City Council affirms remaining a Non-Sanctuary City and asserts the City does not currently have the financial capacity to fund new services related to this crisis and demands that other municipalities and entities do not systematically transport migrants or people experiencing homelessness to the City,” the resolution states.
The resolution also calls on the federal government to “secure our nation’s borders.”
In recent months, Denver has become a hotspot for more than 40,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, who began arriving in droves in December, 2022.
Earlier this month, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, announced cuts to the city’s budget due to the migrant crisis. The DMV and the parks department were some of the first areas of city government affected.
“Without any federal support, without any work authorization, without changes to policy, we are going to have to make changes to what we can do in terms of our city budget, and what we can do in terms of support for newcomers who have arrived in the city,” Johnston said.
Johnston noted that the city would likely need $100 million over the course of this year to pay for migrant costs such as housing, school, and health care.
Aurora Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, who sponsored the resolution, said she views it as inhumane to bus migrants into her city.
“I don’t know if the Denver residents are OK with their rec centers being scaled back and shut down and their hours cut and the DMV shut down every other week now, but here in Aurora, we’re not shutting down our rec centers,” Jurinsky said. “We’re not doing any of that, and we don’t have a county budget to sustain it.”
Another member of Aurora’s city council, Crystal Murillo, opposed the resolution, saying she is concerned it is “spreading a narrative of fear that we are pitting groups of marginalized communities, people in need, against one another.”
Councilwoman Stephanie Hancock, who supported the resolution, said she and her fellow council members were elected to be a “good steward of your dollars.”