Colorado officials recently began considering a proposal to allow illegal immigrants in the state to become police officers and firefighters.
On Feb. 12, 2024, Denver City Council President Jame Torres and Councilmember Amanda Sandoval introduced a measure to remove language in the city charter prohibiting illegal migrants from serving as police officers and firefighters.
Such a proposal could be introduced in April 2024, but an effort to change the city charter’s language would require a ballot initiative in November 2024.
The heads of Denver’s police and firefighter departments have submitted letters approving the proposal.
Denver’s Sherrif’s Department could already hire non-citizen individuals because of a 2016 federal settlement that determined the department had discriminated against migrants who had work authorizations, according to the Daily Wire.
Like other cities across the U.S., Denver has been subjected to a wave of illegal immigration caused by President Joe Biden’s lax border policies. The city has struggled to handle more than 40,000 unlawful migrants who have arrived in the past months.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) pointed out in a statement that hotels across the city are overcrowded because of illegal immigrants.
SHOCKING: The Denver migrant crisis is out of control, migrants are living in hotels throughout the city, driving unregistered vehicles, and recieving government benefits w/out paying taxes. 5% of Denvers population is now illegal immigrants that have arrived in the last 3 years. pic.twitter.com/uyhlqFI8re
— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) February 11, 2024
“We have filled every single hotel room that we have available in the city and county of Denver,” the mayor said.
Denver officials are cutting funding from police and health departments as well as animal shelters to pay for the illegal immigration crisis.
Johnston has asked the city council to slash nearly $1 million from the elections department in 2024. He said Denver would require at least $100 million by the end of 2024 to pay for costs associated with unlawful migrants, such as housing, healthcare and education.
“The influx of migrants is straining capacity, and based on current projections, could force the city to cut as much as $180 million from its annual budget,” Denver officials said in a press release.
The Daily Wire noted that Denver has 710,000 residents and that illegal immigrants have drastically increased the city’s population by over 5%.
Not only is Denver dealing with Biden’s border crisis, but homelessness in the city has risen by more than 30% since 2023.
