Denver, Colorado, Mayor Mike Johnston announced he will raid city coffers and slash the police, firefighter, and 9-1-1 call center budgets to boost funding for housing and other services for illegal immigrants. Johnston, who has embraced the Biden government’s term “newcomers” to refer to the city’s burgeoning illegal alien population, said the cuts are necessary to afford the $89.9 million in new spending on illegals.
The city’s police department will see a $8.4 million cut in its budget, while the Denver fire department will have its budget slashed by $2.5 million. In addition, 9-1-1 operators would be forced to take a pay cut. Other city services will be reduced by $45.9 million as part of the funding shift, which prioritizes Denver’s illegal immigrant population of its legal residents.
“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,” Johnston claimed during the April 10 announcement of his budget plan. He continued: “So many times, we were told that we couldn’t be compassionate while still being fiscally responsible. Today is proof that our hardest challenges are still solvable and that together we are the ones who will solve them.”
Johnston has joined other state and local Democratic politicians across the U.S. in asking for the Biden government to provide financial assistance for cities as well as increase the number of work permits for illegal immigrants. “We think if the federal government can take action on the supplemental budget that President Biden has proposed, that would be $14 billion that could help meet this need,” the Denver mayor said earlier this year. Johnston’s budget will head to the Denver City Council for debate and a final vote on April 16.
