SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Gov. Spencer Cox claimed Friday that the mayor of Denver is sending immigrants to Utah without proper approval, calling the alleged actions “unacceptable” on Twitter/X.
“We recently learned that the Democrat mayor of Denver has been sending illegal immigrants to Utah without proper notification or approval. This is completely unacceptable and follows on the failed catch-and-release policy of the Biden administration,” his post said in part.
The Salt Lake City Police Department told ABC4 that 15 people arrived in Salt Lake City last month from Colorado, all of whom had gone through federal processing. Police say social workers transported them to Ogden because the shelters in Salt Lake County were full.
Jon Ewing, a representative of the Denver Department of Human Services, confirmed that they had helped people travel to Salt Lake City over the past 30 days, however, he said they have been “incredibly transparent with all of our newcomer operations.”
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They say over the past year and a half they have helped approximately 2,000 people travel to Salt Lake City, with 59 of those people having departed in the last 30 days.
“The vast majority of newcomers arriving in Denver do so on buses chartered from Texas and had no intention of ever coming to Denver. That’s why part of our operations include purchasing tickets for newcomers to get to their desired location, where they may have support networks or job opportunities,” Ewing said.
Ewing added the destination is always chosen by the newcomer, and many choose to go to other locations like New York and Chicago.
“To date Denver has served more than 42,000 people from the southern border, assistance which has included helping to house thousands of people and assisting more than 2,000 individuals with securing legal work,” he said.
Cox said every state has received immigrants and Utah’s resources are “completely depleted.”
“All 50 states, including Utah, are now border states due to the failed immigration policies of President Biden and Congress,” Cox said. “Once again we call on the Biden administration and Congress to solve this crisis.”
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