As Congress and the White House continue to grapple over a completely unnecessary and disastrous “deal” over the border, the Biden border crisis continues unabated. Conditions are not improving in Chicago and New York, both of which have been severely impacted by the invasion, but there’s another city that may have it even worse while not drawing as many headlines. NBC News is reporting that the situation in Denver has become increasingly dire. The city is far smaller than Gotham, with a population a little over 700,000, but it has become one of the most popular destinations for migrants leaving the southern border. They’ve taken in almost 40.000 migrants in the past year, the equivalent of more than 5% of their population. They have run out of places to house them all and will soon begin limiting how long migrants can stay for free in designated shelters. Even worse, the migrants have overrun the city’s hospitals and medical clinics. They are running out of money, medical supplies, and the workers they need to tend to an army of new, non-paying patients.
Nearly 40,000 migrants have arrived in Denver over the past year, making a city with a population of just over 710,000 the top destination per capita for newly arrived migrants crossing the U.S. southern border and traveling north in buses from Texas.
The influx is taking a toll on the city’s public safety net. Starting Feb. 5, Denver will limit the number of days migrants can stay in shelters and send those who exceed their stay out onto the streets.
One Venezuelan family, a mother, father and their three daughters, told NBC News they’ve been staying at a hotel paid for by the city, but they’ve just received notice that they’ll be evicted.
Denver has been trying to maintain its status as a liberal, sanctuary city, but far too many migrants have opted to take them up on their offer. They have been offering free room and board to all of the migrants, most of whom have arrived from Texas, but now the cupboards are nearly bare. The migrants who have stayed for too long living on the taxpayer dime will be forced out into the streets to make room for the next arrivals.
As noted above, the situation in the city’s medical facilities is equally dire. Denver Health is the city’s “safety net” hospital. They have been accepting a steady stream of migrants and treating them for all manner of ailments ranging from basic injuries to contagious diseases previously almost unknown in the region. They’ve seen a large increase in cases of varicella (chickenpox) and parasitic infections. Virtually none of the migrants pay for their medical care. The hospital has recorded more than $10 million in unpaid medical bills from migrants and they are asking the state and federal government for additional money to make up for those expenses.
Mike Johnston, the Mayor of Denver, recently stated that the city will need an additional $100 million over the next nine months to pay for not just migrant housing and healthcare, but the rest of the services they are soaking up. The schools have been asked to take on more than 3,000 additional students with no increase in staffing or resources. The principal of the Bryant Webster Dual Language School said that the majority of the migrant children arrive with little or no previous schooling and few speak English. They have had to be placed in special classrooms in the hopes that they can catch up to the grade levels appropriate for their ages. This situation is already being described as being “unsustainable.”
If Denver, Chicago, and New York were the only locations experiencing these issues, the situation might be containable. But they are far from the only places. The entire country is being overrun in this fashion. Even if we were to set aside the concerns over all of the potential terrorists that have made it over the border, we simply don’t have the resources to take care of eight million people who show up expecting a free ride for all of their needs. This needs to end immediately and it could be over tomorrow if Joe Biden would take responsibility for enforcing the nation’s immigration laws. But he’s not doing that and shows no sign of making any significant changes. There is going to be one hell of a mess to clean up by the time he hopefully leaves office. I hope we will be able to muster the resources required to tackle the job.