Denver mayor: City will close 4 migrant shelters to reduce budget
DENVER (KDVR) — During an update Wednesday morning, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced the city will consolidate shelters with the goal of saving the city money.
Four migrant shelters are expected to close — one every week over the next month.
“We knew that as a result of federal inaction on immigration and the resulting budget crisis, there were two important steps we needed to take. One was to adjust the city’s budgets to help support these needs, and the second was to reduce the overall cost of our migrant program,” said Johnston.
According to the mayor, closing the shelters will save the city $60 million. That means the projected $180 million needed for migrant support will drop to $120 million.
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Johnston said the $60 million that will be saved will be reallocated back to city services.
“We can use [the $60 million] to make sure all city services are funded,” said Johnston.
Johnston said it will be accomplished over a four-tier system:
Reinstituting length of stay limits
Boosting case management supports
Connecting with networks outside the city
Increasing work authorization opportunities
City leaders said that clinics have helped 600 people submit work authorization forms already, and 700 are expected to submit applications in the coming weeks.
City claims no one will be kicked out of shelters
Johnston said with shelters closing, no one will be kicked out, they will simply be moved to another shelter. The main reason this is possible is because surge numbers are down, but he added the city is prepared with congregate shelters in the event of another surge.
“We’re putting in place now the infrastructure to be able to manage what we would need if that if [another surge] happens. Our plan is to try to close the shelters and keep them closed and move away from a system that has remained largely significant numbers of open hotels for ongoing housing,” Johnston said.
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Denver’s migrant dashboard said 15 new migrants came to the city on Feb. 27, and 2,384 are currently in shelters. Before these cuts, the city was sheltering migrants through seven hotels, as well as two congregate shelters for homeless migrants.
The city is also partnering with the Archdiocese of Denver to provide bridge housing for a limited number of families with children.
Homeless population expect encampments to grow
FOX31’s Vicente Arenas spoke with migrants living at an encampment near Elitch Gardens, who said they are fully expecting that more people will be living at that site soon, including Arturo Gerder, of Venezuela. He told FOX31 he believes the Elitch Gardens encampment will grow now due to the four shelters closing.
Together Denver housing advocate Amy Beck says she has seen a decrease in the number of homeless coming into the city and on the streets.
“We’re wondering where everyone is going because we are not seeing them hit the streets,” Beck said. “We are not seeing the numbers being bussed out. We are not sure where everyone is going.”
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However, it is still difficult to predict how many migrants will continue arriving in Denver.
The city has supported 38,861 migrants from the southern border at a cost of nearly $58 million so far. Denver also acknowledged that funding has come from the federal and state governments, but still, that’s not enough.
Funding has become a big topic in other cities too, like Aurora and Monument, as this continues to be a problem nationwide.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
