A drastically scaled back migrant response considered a best-case scenario by city staff would cost Denver up to $26 million per year, far less than the $180 million per year the city currently is spending, according to city officials.
Denver city officials and advocates alike say the situation with the migrant influx has become unsustainable. There currently are 4,000 migrants in shelter in Denver at a cost of $90 per day per migrant, according to city staff. Representatives of Denver Human Services gave the Safety, Housing, Education and Homelessness Committee of the City Council an update on the migrant response Wednesday. They said the city is working toward achieving that best case scenario.
It won’t be easy, staff said. Mayor Mike Johnston has become the de facto spokesperson for cities sheltering large numbers of migrants, including Chicago and New York. He has appeared on several national Sunday news programs. He has lobbied the White House to loosen work permit requirements for migrants, according to city staff. In the meantime, the city has reinstated discharging migrants from shelters after 15 days for single people and six weeks for families with children, according to officials. As many as 200 migrants will be discharged Feb. 5, according to DHS spokesperson Jon Ewing. DHS staff said at the committee meeting that discharges will continue every day after Feb. 5, with between 50 and 120 people being kicked out daily of shelter through the end of March.