Residents of Lakewood, Colorado urged their city council to not help out nearby Denver with its overwhelming illegal immigrant crisis.
Reportedly, Lakewood city officials have signaled a desire to help Denver with the crisis and are weighing whether to take a federal grant to do so. On Monday night, residents packed into the meeting to share their concerns with the idea (via Fox News):
Residents have expressed concern it could be used to house migrants in the city, bringing the border crisis to their community – and subsequently urged officials to use the shelter to help Lakewood’s residents and not migrants from Denver.
Numerous residents also told the council on Monday evening about worries that migrants could overwhelm the city's hospitals and infrastructure and increase crime. Residents also said they had concerns over how their tax money would be used to pay for migrants.
Residents of Lakewood, CO unloaded on the city council last night after Denver suggested sending more illegals to their city and sheltering them on the taxpayer dime.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 14, 2024
Illegals have brought crime, pr*stitut*on, and drugs to their quiet town.
Biden won this county by 18 points in… pic.twitter.com/2GZqegDw4W
City Manager Kathy Hodgson reportedly said that there’s no plan to house illegal immigrants in Lakewood. This came after Lakewood officials held a meeting last month with Denver officials about the illegal immigration crisis.
Hodgson explained that the leaders discussed "how Lakewood can learn about the migrant crisis and discuss potential opportunities to partner as a good neighbor, responding to the increasing migrant population arriving in Denver."
"The situation is pretty fluid in nature. So at that time, we learned that in the past year, Denver had received over 38,000 migrant newcomers. And this is since December of 2022, about 200 arrivals per day," she said. "That's what we learned. Denver had spent approximately $46 million on the migrant newcomers shelter and associated support in 2023, securing housing for 4,000 people through 900 leases and providing more than 700,000 meals. Their average cost has been about $4 million per month. Denver indicated at that point that they are anticipating the costs for 2024 will be approximately $180 million."
"Due to the shift away from placing migrant newcomers in shelters, Lakewood is not being solicited for hotel, motel or congregate housing support," Hodgson added, according to Fox. "Denver is initiating what’s called a coordinated entry program, which is dispersing migrant groups to willing cities throughout the country and outside of the Denver metro area."
Late last month, Townhall covered how Denver officials announced that it would begin limiting the number of days illegal immigrants can stay in its shelters and will send those who overstay out onto the streets. This came after it was revealed that Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, indicated that the city needed to prepare for cuts in the 2024 budget to handle the illegal immigrants.
In addition, a U.S. citizen who legally immigrated from Thailand told The Denver Gazette that illegal immigrant camps that have been set up in recent months have hurt her business and her community.
“I want to cry right now,” the woman, Tip Cordova said. “I can’t take it anymore.”