COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The mayor of Colorado Springs took to social media Friday to address citizens’ concerns after the sudden arrival of nearly two dozen migrant families to the area in recent days.
Mayor Yemi Mobolade held a virtual news conference from his office via Facebook Live where he provided few details about the arriving migrant families, only saying he believed the approximately 21 migrant families had arrived by bus.
Casting blame on news media for making the situation “feel like there is a crisis,” Mayor Mobolade reassured residents that the city was not in a crisis situation and that his intent was not to “invite a crisis into our city.”
“As your mayor, it’s really important to me that I am a careful steward of our taxpayer dollars,” Mobolade said. “It is also not my intent that we become a sanctuary city – that is now what I signed up as mayor to become.”
Since late 2022 , thousands of migrants – many of them from Venezuela – have crossed the southern border illegally as they escape violence and economic instability in their home countries. About 16,000 of them have been bused to Denver by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, who has vowed to continue sending them to cities like Denver, Chicago and New York due to their welcoming attitude toward migrants, regardless of legal status.