Denver declared itself a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants in 2017, during the Trump administration, when the border was fairly secure. Lt. Randy Sutton of The Wounded Blue says the virtue-signaling city officials never dreamed they would have to actually provide sanctuary to the scores of illegals who would inundate the city and its resources after Joe Biden would go on to personally invite a surge to the southern border.
Now, roughly 710,000 illegal immigrants call Denver home, with an estimated 40,000 having hit the city in 2023 alone.
"Their failed policies have brought a massive influx of these illegal immigrants into Denver because of their sanctuary city status," Sutton summarizes.
Even so, Denver Democrats continue to roll out the welcome mat, refusing to rescind many of the benefits they offer to the illegals, whom they also refuse to refer to as such.
"They sugar coat it," the retired lieutenant reports. "They gaslight all of their constituents with their language, and a perfect example of that is referring to illegal aliens and illegal immigrants as – quote – 'newcomers.'"
Still, the money must come from somewhere, so the city is cutting $45 million from city agencies to help fund the migrant program. $8.4 million will come from the police, and another $2.5 million will be taken from its fire departments to continue the illegals' benefits for the time being.
Sutton says not only has that decision demoralized the city's police and fire forces, but it increases emergency response times, which puts Denver residents in danger.
"That several million dollars could be the difference between life and death for a citizen," he warns.
Denver has reportedly spent over $68 million on services related to migrants over the past 16 months of "significantly increased migration." Over half of the money was spent from December to last month.
Democrat Mayor Mike Johnston's office insists this "budget adjustment" is not an attempt to defund the police, and he claims the cuts will not impact the department's public services.
