Colorado sending more migrants to major US cities

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) plans to send more migrants to cities such as New York, Mayor Eric Adams (D) said Tuesday.  

Adams said that he was notified Monday that Colorado was sending more migrants to major U.S. cities such as New York and Chicago.  

“This is just unfair for local governments to have to take on this national obligation,” Adams said during an interview with radio station WABC. “We’ve done our job. There is no more room at the inn.” 

A spokesperson for Polis told The Hill that the city of Denver has been purchasing bus tickets for migrants, most of whom have expressed an interest in going to New York City, Chicago, Atlanta or Miami, for weeks.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) has yet to confirm if the city will receive migrants from Colorado.  

In a statement Tuesday, Polis said that his administration is working to help transport migrants since about 70 percent do not want to stay in Colorado.  

“In order to facilitate the safe and voluntary transit of people to their desired destinations, the state is working with culturally competent navigators to ensure that each individual is voluntarily making their own travel decision,” the governor said in the statement.  

Polis added in the statement that he recognizes the many migrants stopping in Colorado on their way to their final destinations have been slowed down by transportation cancellations stemming from bad weather and workforce shortages.  

Many major U.S. cities, including New York, have struggled to provide services to an influx of migrants from the southern border.

Last fall, Adams came under fire after a tent city on a beach in the Bronx for newly arrived migrants flooded.  

Adams has also been criticized for saying the new wave of asylum-seekers was “undermining” New York City’s economy as it tries to recover from the pandemic.  

Denver has also struggled to help a wave of migrants arriving in the Mile High City.  

The number of migrants and asylum-seekers from the southern border traveling to Denver reached at least 3,500 last month, according to a release from the city and county of Denver.  

The months-long increase in migrants prompted Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (D) to declare a state of emergency last month, later asking the city’s archdiocese for help.  

–Updated on Jan. 4 at 5:45 a.m.