DENVER — The City of Denver is preparing to spend 10% of this year's general fund budget on the migrant crisis. If a high number of migrants continue to arrive in Denver and the city continues to shelter them, Mayor Mike Johnston said it's estimated to cost $180 million in 2024.
"That would be a very, very painful conversation about budget options if we had to figure that out," Johnston told councilmembers at a meeting on Tuesday.
For context, Johnston put about $50 million toward solving homelessness in 2023. The migrant crisis could cost more than three times that amount this year.
"This challenge is far larger than we’ve ever seen it before, and the scale can feel daunting," Johnston said at Tuesday's meeting.
The budget revelations come as Denver prepares to close a large homeless encampment filled with migrants on the corner of Speer Boulevard and Zuni Street. The vast majority of the hundreds of people living there have recently arrived in Denver from the southern border and have timed out of the shelter system they were first allowed into. Johnston has promised that all migrants living at the camp will be given shelter.
The city says people will be allowed into the newly opened congregate shelter for 30 days and will be connected with housing resources. The goal is for migrants to move into permanent housing from there.
The City of Denver will pay for one month's rent for migrants who have a job and are looking for an apartment. For migrants who do not have a job, the city is committing to pay for up to three month's rent.
"I have my granddaughter who is seven years old. We live in the tents. It’s sad because we can’t sleep. The cold is too much," said Nairez, a migrant living in the camp with 10 family members.
Nairez made it to Denver after months traveling from Venezuela. Her grandchildren are six months and seven years old. In between coughing, her granddaughter Camila tells us she’s sick all the time and her family doesn’t have the money to buy her the medicine she needs.
Tuesday might be the last night the family of 10 spends living in the cold.
On Wednesday morning, Denver Police will come through and clear the camp. The city has made space for 320 of the migrants living here to move into shelters.
"It is nothing concrete because we don’t know where they are going to take us. But any roof that they give us is a blessing," Nairez said.
She said ultimately, she just wants to work, but can't find a job. Without a salary, she can't make the money she needs to get housing.
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