A pair of Denver councilmembers on Wednesday implied that the surge in illegal immigration over the past 18 months is linked to an increase in crime in some neighborhoods they represent.
Councilmembers Amanda Sawyer and Stacie Gilmore shared anecdotal stories of crimes occurring in “hot spots” in their respective districts during a committee hearing.
Both law enforcement and city officials, including the Johnston administration, use the phrase “hot spot” to denote an area with a spiking crime rate. The city, for example, earlier designated five areas as “hot spots” — places that, by design, will be getting law enforcement’s focus in the administration’s campaign to curb gun-related crimes. The specific areas are not necessarily the most violent places in the city, but they had experienced a significant increase in violence over the past year.
Sawyer and Gilmore did not say where exactly the “hot spots” are in their districts.
The two councilmembers also did not say outright that the immigrants who traveled to Denver after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border were responsible for the spike in crimes.
But the implication was apparent.
“The vast, vast majority of people who are entering our program are fantastic humans who want a better life,” Sawyer said. “Not all of them. And we know that’s the case because it’s happening in District 5.”
“There is right now no mechanism to be able to recognize and identify when that is a problem and make changes except to go to the police,” Sawyer said.
Gilmore and Sawyer raised their worries during a public safety meeting in which councilmembers learned about three immigration-related contracts totaling roughly $17 million.
Sawyer asked Sarah Plastino, director of the Johnston administration’s response to the illegal immigration crisis, what measures are built into the three contracts — and, broadly speaking, in the city’s program that seeks to help immigrants find work in Denver — to discourage and prevent crime.
Immigrants sign a code of conduct when they enroll in the jobs program, promising to not engage in criminal behavior, Plastino said. There is also a requirement to comply with a “good neighbor” agreement, she added.
“Everybody has received a detailed explanation of those requirements for the program, and we also have a system whereby we can, if necessary, eject someone from the program for violations of those rules,” Plastino said.
Signing a piece of paper is not enough, Gilmore countered.
She talked about a robbery that “happened in broad daylight.” She offered no specifics.
Denver’s police department did not respond to a request for comment.
Over the past 18 months, some 42,000 immigrants from central and south America traveled to Denver, forcing the city to cut services and freeze hiring in some areas to come up with the funds to pay for their care.
Early in the crisis, Denver decided they would pay for the immigrants’ shelter, food and onward travel to other cities, a point of tension between Colorado and officials where they ultimately ended up.
The crisis has cost city taxpayers more than $72 million. Denver has so far received only roughly $17.3 million in state and federal reimbursements.
Both councilmembers pressed the Johnston administration for answers on its spending on illegal immigration during the public safety committee meeting.
Sawyer asked how much the three contracts would cost the city this year and next. In total, they will cost $17 million, though some costs will continue into 2025 and be covered in that budget.
That’s on top of the $70 million that Denver has already spent in its illegal immigration response.
The cost of homelessness and illegal immigration — two of Denver’s biggest crisis — had been piling up. And as the city spent millions of dollars, some councilmembers have begun to ask pointed questions about the spending and complained about a lack of transparency from Johnston’s office.
Several weeks ago, Sawyer lamented that the council had not been briefed on how much the city had actually spent on homelessness and said she learned shortly thereafter the Johnston administration had overspent by $65 million.
To pay for its immigration response, the Johnston administration imposed a hiring freeze and cut $42 million from the general fund, $17 million of which came from the public safety budget. The mayor’s office maintained that the cuts did not result in fewer officers on the streets.
When asked where the $17 million will come from, Plastino said the three contracts would be paid for as part of the $90 million that the city anticipates spending this year on the illegal immigration crisis.
Sawyer also wanted to know what the ongoing cost to taxpayers would be, noting how much the Department of Housing Stability already estimated it would spend on homelessness.
Plastino could not provide a specific dollar amount.
“We are currently crunching those numbers, figuring out our vision for the program moving forward, because as you all know, this is a very constantly evolving area,” Plastino said. “We want to make sure we’re using taxpayer dollars in a smart way and that the programs we are standing up are necessary.”
While the city is doing the best it can, it is difficult to forecast “what the situation on the ground” will look like in 2025, Plastino said.
She promised to update Sawyer as more details become available and the department moves through the 2025 budget process.
The effects of the immigration crisis are being felt across the city, and it could be “decades” until it is resolved, according to Gilmore.
The councilmember said she wants to know how the human services department will monitor the immigration-related contracts and make sure the providers are tracking the areas that need the most help.
Gilmore pointed specifically to the interchange area around Interstate 70 and Peoria Street, which has “been housing folks since October of 2022.”
“We as a community in Montbello are struggling with this added issue,” she said. “I haven’t seen the long-term planning of how the city is prepared for that.”
She added: “How are you determining the true need so that all of our communities are safe for everybody?”
The Johnston administration is “absolutely thinking critically” about how the program can evolve and what other pieces are needed, Plastino said.
“There’s absolutely a greater need than the program contemplates, unfortunately, but, as you see, the program at this size is very expensive,” she said. “And so to scale up to help everybody that needs it would be unfortunately financially unsustainable.”
Hiring social workers and offering more supports services are cheaper than adding more police officers, Gilmore countered.
“It is really troubling that you all do not have a plan long term because this is affecting the safety and the community,” Gilmore said.
