by Eric Lendrum
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D-Colo.) has announced a new spending package that will fund the hordes of illegal aliens flooding into the state, including cutting the city police department’s budget by $8 million in order to support illegals.
As Fox News reports, Johnston’s $45.9 million proposition will go towards funding “newcomers” in the year 2024, on top of the $44 million that has already been spent on illegals in recent years. The city of Denver used to spend a mere $2 million every month on illegals as far back as August; as of December, that amount soared to $15 million a month. The number of illegals living in shelters peaked at 5,000 in January but has since fallen to about 1,000.
“After more than a year of facing this crisis together, Denver finally has a sustainable plan for treating our newcomers with dignity while avoiding the worst cuts to city services,” said Johnston in a statement.
There will be several major budget cuts to fund Johnston’s spending package, including a 10 percent cut to the budget of the mayor’s office. But the most contentious is the cut to the police department, which will lose 8 percent of its funding, amounting to 1.9 percent of its overall budget. Of that $8 million, $5 million will come from restricting hiring for open positions. Hiring will only continue at Denver International Airport.
The package also calls for cutting the city’s fire department budget by 1 percent, or roughly $2.5 million; like with the police department, this will be done primarily by refusing to let the fire department hire anyone to fill open jobs.
Part of the new package will focus on creating a new “Denver Asylum Seekers Program,” which will apply to at least 1,000 illegals currently living in the shelters. It aims to connect illegals with options for housing for a six-month period until they get work permits. Another aspect will be the “WorkReady” program, which the plan describes as an “innovative pre-work authorization readiness program” that will connect illegals to training opportunities for work, including language education.
In response to widespread criticism over the cuts to the police budget, spokeswoman Jordan Fuja defended the mayor’s actions.
“The City of Denver’s adjustment to the Denver Police Department’s budget was carefully crafted with safety leaders and Mayor Johnston to ensure there would be no impact to the department’s public services. And no officers will be taken off the streets,” said Fuja.
“To say that Denver is ‘defunding the police’ is a willful mischaracterization of the budget adjustments, which actually just delays the purchase of new furniture and shifts the funding source for one cadet class,” she continued. “In fact, Mayor Johnston has invested millions to add 167 new police recruits to our force in 2024 and will continue to invest in public safety to ensure every Denverite is safe in their city.”
Johnston’s proposal marks the latest instance of Democratic mayors struggling to deal with the massive influx of illegal aliens into major cities across the country due to Joe Biden’s open-borders approach to immigration. While Democrat mayors have previously supported the concept of “sanctuary” cities and states that provide safe haven for illegals and refuses to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, the ongoing toll of the mass migration crisis – including an increase in homelessness, drugs, disease, and crime – has led to some mayors taking desperate measures to curtail the harmful public effects and appease angry constituents.
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Eric Lendrum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Secretary of the College Republicans and the founding chairman of the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter. He has interned for Young America’s Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, and the White House, and has worked for numerous campaigns including the 2018 re-election of Congressman Devin Nunes (CA-22). He is currently a co-host of The Right Take podcast.
Photo “Mayor Mike Johnston” by Mike Johnston. Background photo “Denver Skyline” by City and County of Denver Government.
