Public officials in Douglas County called a special meeting to send a message to Denver: Don’t send the mounting population of migrants to Douglas County.
Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon acknowledged his own Latino heritage and said he recognizes “the plight of those seeking asylum.”
With “that said, I also want to be responsible (with) every tax dollar,” Laydon said at an Oct. 12 news conference after the special meeting, adding that he thinks the resources in Douglas County communities are already overstretched.
An influx of thousands of migrants to Denver that has lasted roughly a year has turned into what Douglas County officials feel is a pressing issue for their communities after the issue of housing migrants crossed into Adams County, leading officials to attempt to head off the possibility of receiving migrants in Douglas, a scenario they say would pose a threat to public health and safety.
“The City of Denver recently began housing migrants at a hotel outside their jurisdiction in Adams County,” said Dan Avery, a Douglas County staff member. That action prompted Douglas County to review its policies, Avery said at the Oct. 12 meeting.
Mike Hill, director of the Douglas County Health Department, said the county doesn’t have much experience sheltering that type of population.
At the meeting, two of Douglas County’s commissioners — Commissioner Lora Thomas was absent — voted to approve a resolution that framed the issue as a public health and safety risk.
Officials did not cite broad evidence of crime trends increasing due to the influx of migrants. They pointed to a recent incident in Highlands Ranch.
“On April 28th, a 25-year-old man was kidnapped from an RTD Park-N-Ride in Highlands Ranch. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and a law enforcement agency in Rockford, Illinois arrested two Venezuelan migrants, who are being held on charges of kidnapping and assault,” the text of the resolution says.
“I don’t want to label illegal immigrants as all criminals, legal immigrants as all criminals,” Parker Mayor Jeff Toborg said during the meeting.
He directed some comments toward Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, saying “this is an issue of your predecessor’s making” and that officials in Douglas County don’t have the resources to help.
“Those who enter the country illegally can pose a significant public health risk to a community when there is an increase in … communicable disease,” the resolution says.
An Adams County action this month struck a similar tone.
“Migrant persons, primarily asylum seekers, are a particularly vulnerable population because often times (1) they have traveled from countries with limited or no access to routine healthcare – including vaccination and chronic disease management, (2) they have traveled for prolonged periods living in settings that lack hygiene and through countries with potential exposure to disease (person-to-person, intestinal, vector borne, etc.),” a recent public health order regarding requirements for sheltering of migrants in Adams County from the Adams County Board of Health says.
The Douglas County resolution also says: “Douglas County seeks to limit the potential for disputes about the ability for Douglas County to provide services to migrant populations.”
“Douglas County expressly affirms that the county is not a sanctuary jurisdiction and calls on the cities and counties in the Denver Metropolitan Area — including the City and County of Denver and the new Denver Mayor — to publicly do the same,” the resolution adds.
“50,000 Venezuelan migrants arrived at the southern border last month, and 195,848 have arrived since last September, comprising nearly 10% of the two million migrants apprehended by Border Patrol in fiscal year 2023 according to data recently obtained by CBS News,” the resolution says.
Many are released to seek asylum, a process that can take years, the resolution says.
Seeking asylum — or safety from persecution — is a legal process. “Seeking asylum is a human right protected under our laws,” the website for the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, says.
The total number of migrants that have been served by the City of Denver is nearly 24,000 as of Oct. 12, according to the city’s website. The city’s count of migrant occupancy appears to go back to December or slightly before.
“Over 3,068 are currently sheltered in non-city facilities like hotels. On October 1st alone, nine busloads arrived from Texas,” the resolution states.
Laydon and Commissioner George Teal voted in favor of the resolution.
Thomas, the Douglas commissioner who was not present at the meeting, issued a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“In regard to why I was absent from today’s @douglascountyco Business Meeting where a Resolution pertaining to Denver’s handling of the Migrant Crisis was approved: While I agree that Douglas County does not have the resources to assist Denver with the migrant crisis they are facing because of the open southern border, I have always found that communication and cooperation are more effective at problem-solving than negative, political rhetoric,” Thomas’ post says.