by Derek Draplin
Spending on migrants in Denver has ballooned to an estimated $356 million, an updated analysis by the Common Sense Institute says.
The estimate, which amounts to $7,900 per foreign national in the city, includes spending from the city, schools, and health care systems.
Denver has seen an influx of almost 43,000 migrants since 2022. The city has received significant federal funding for migrant response.
According to CSI’s previous update from May, the city received federal funding for migrant response from the Head Start Program ($13 million), Federal Emergency Management Agency ($8.6 million), U.S. Department of Local Affairs ($1.5 million), and the National Board for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program ($909,000). Overall spending was estimated to be up to $340 million in May.
The analysis comes as Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (pictured above) and incoming Trump administration officials continue a public feud over the role of government and the handling of the ongoing migrant crisis.
Trump has taken aim at so-called sanctuary cities like Denver as part of his broader plan to crack down on illegal immigration and crime, and deport an untold number of criminal alienas in the U.S. illegally. In Colorado, state law bars state and local agencies from arresting individuals based on detainer requests from ICE.
Johnston said in an interview with Denverite last week that the Denver Police Department would be “stationed at the county line to keep [federal immigration agencies] out” and “you would have 50,000 Denverites there” protesting.
He walked back those comments in an interview last Friday with 9News.
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Derek Draplin is a contributor to The Center Square.
