Colorado to Halt Busing of Illegal Immigrants to Democrat-Run Cities

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks in Highlands Ranch, Colo., on May 8, 2019. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

Colorado will no longer send busloads of illegal immigrants to Chicago and New York, a move that had triggered criticism from the two cities’ Democratic mayors, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’s office said on Jan. 7.

Polis, a Democrat, had announced on Jan. 3 that the state government would step in to make sure that illegal immigrants who recently arrived in Denver could safely reach Chicago and New York by bus, saying that most of those individuals don’t consider Colorado to be their “desired final destination.”

According to the governor’s office, Polis decided to reverse course after discussing the matter with his fellow Democrats who run those “sanctuary” and “welcoming” cities.

“The Governor had a very productive conversation with Mayor [Eric] Adams and Mayor [Lori] Lightfoot today where he shared that there are no more buses scheduled for migrants from Denver to Chicago at this time, and the final chartered transportation to New York City will be successfully completed tomorrow,” Polis’s office said in a statement.

“Now that nationwide travel has returned to the status quo because the holidays and the impact of weather have normalized transportation pathways, Colorado has been in the process of scaling back this transportation,” the statement reads.

The decision comes after Lightfoot and Adams, whose respective cities of Chicago and New York have been overwhelmed with an influx of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants since the spring of 2022, asked Polis in an open letter to not add to their burden. Many of those illegal immigrants crossed the U.S.–Mexico border into Texas before voluntarily accepting a one-way bus ticket to Democrat-run municipalities.

Chicago, according to the letter, has “welcomed 3,854 migrants bused to its city from Texas” since the end of August 2022. New York’s emergency shelter system is struggling to serve an estimated 36,400 “asylum-seekers,” a spiraling crisis that the city plans to spend $1 billion to address.

“You must stop busing migrants to Chicago and New York City,” the mayors wrote. “These actions do not live up to the values of a proclaimed welcoming state and should stop immediately.”

Denver Declares State of Emergency

In December 2022 , Denver Mayor Michael Hancock declared a state of emergency in response to a dramatic influx of illegal immigrants being dropped off in the city.

“Let me be frank: This influx of migrants, the unanticipated nature of their arrival, and our current space and staffing challenges have put an immense strain on city resources to the level where they’re on the verge of reaching a breaking point at this time,” Hancock said at a Dec. 15, 2022, press conference.

According to the mayor’s office, more than 900 illegal immigrants arrived in Denver over several months, including more than 600 since Dec. 2, 2022. The sheltering effort has already cost the city more than $800,000, an amount that’s expected to “increase significantly.”

Busing Programs Continue

The past year has seen the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona busing at least 18,000 of those who illegally entered their states to “sanctuary” and “welcoming” cities around the country.

According to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Lone Star State has sent more than 9,100 illegal immigrants to Washington, more than 4,900 to New York City, more than 1,500 to Chicago, and more than 840 to Philadelphia. That includes three busloads of people who were dropped off near the Washington residence of Vice President Kamala Harris on Christmas Eve.

While the White House criticized the bus initiatives as “cruel” and “shameful,” Abbott responded by saying that the Biden administration’s flawed border policies are to blame for the crisis that border communities have faced for years.

“These communities and the state are ill-equipped to do the job assigned to the federal government—house the thousands of migrants flooding into the country every day. With perilous temperatures moving into the area, many of these migrants are at risk of freezing to death on city streets,” Abbott said in an open letter.

“The need to address this crisis is not the job of border states like Texas. Instead, the U.S. Constitution dictates that it is your job, Mr. President, to defend the borders of our country, regulate our nation’s immigration, and manage those who seek refuge here.”