Starting Feb. 5, Denver will start limiting the number of days migrants can stay in shelters and sending those who exceed their stay out onto the streets.

Nearly 40,000 migrants have arrived in Denver over the past year, making a city with a population of just over 710,000 the top destination per capita for newly arrived migrants crossing the U.S. southern border and traveling north in buses from Texas.

The influx is taking a toll on the city’s public safety net. Starting Feb. 5, Denver will limit the number of days migrants can stay in shelters and send those who exceed their stay out onto the streets.

One Venezuelan family, a mother, father and their three daughters, told NBC News they’ve been staying at a hotel paid for by the city, but they’ve just received notice that they’ll be evicted.

“Just yesterday they started throwing away the toys, the bicycles in the common area,” the mother said. “We don’t know where we will go next.”

Denver Health, the city’s “safety net” hospital, is asking for more money from both the state and federal government to help cover $10 million in unpaid medical bills from migrants.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston estimates the city will need $100 million over 2024 to pay for housing, schooling, health care and other services as a result of the unexpected influx of migrants.

  • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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    10 months ago

    because at one point we were setup to handle mass influx of immigrants. are you familiar with american history??

    theres nothing stating we couldnt take some of the trillion-dollar ‘defense’ program and help humans instead.

    • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      The US used to have a fuckload of “unowned” land to send people out to. Also a handful of points of heavy immigration coincided with not so great things. Many Irish got tricked into fighting in the Civil War. Chinese immigrants got exploited as railroad workers and miners. The slave trade, and indentured servitude.

    • weeeeum@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      “back then” the US only had a population of 200 million compared to today’s 330 million, and a massive labour demand since very few products were imported (contrast to Chinese made goods today). Now there’s either a shortage of everything or programs being stretched razor thin.

      Food, housing, electricity, gas, rent and many other bills are extremely expensive. Our schooling, colleges, shelters public infrastructure, roads, hospitals are at constant maximum or above capacity.

      We have got to help ourselves before we help others, the average American is already being crushed under the weight and costs of the modern day. Adding millions more mouths to feed and house isn’t going to help the situation.

      • Ross_audio@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        GDP per capita has only risen.

        The concentration of wealth (including the lower labour demand) is the problem. Not the immigration.

        Time to tax passive earnings at least the same as active ones, preferably more.

    • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      So you’re plan is to allow everyone in a take care of them for free? That’s not how a complex society/economy works. Like it or not that trillion dollars protects a lot of us jobs and that defense budget helps keep the globe from turning into chaos. Would you be ok with china and russia running the global economy?

      • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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        10 months ago

        haha no.

        successful immigration can be expensive, and requires lots of social support. but it also increases economies with succesful integration. im glad you could help, thanks!

        • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          No it does not, are you suggesting that everyone who comes in, is going to be able to contribute more to the economy than whats being spent on them to survive? You’re delusional as fuck if you think this. Again, try and immigrate to nz or Australia or Europe without skills, they’ll tell you to fuck off.

            • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              Yes because reality has so much compassion… again try and immigrate to the EU or Australia or NZ without any skills and let me know how that goes…hell try it with skills that someone in the country already has, they’ll reject you on those grounds as well.

          • novibe@lemmy.ml
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            10 months ago

            Lmao Europe is desperate for low-skilled workers. And even the lowest skilled immigrant is a boost to the economy, cause guess what, the economy is the social activity of humans. More humans more economy. And if you help integrate them, they become more productive sooner, as they will be part of more social activity. Bro are you still stuck in the 1700s? Are you Malthus?

            Like do you think a Mexican arriving in Denver will… not eat? Buy clothes? Drive or use public transport? WORK? Immigrants actually contribute much more than they receive, as they usually arrive as working age adults. The state can get taxes and skip all the money spent of educating a child for 12 years.

            You really are clueless and just spew ideology and propaganda.

            The only reason the US is so powerful is because of all the fucking immigrants that arrived there in the 20th century ffs…

            And also, I hope you are emotionally prepared. The world WILL be China’s very very soon.

            • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              Lmao Europe is desperate for low-skilled workers. And even the lowest skilled immigrant is a boost to the economy, cause guess what, the economy is the social activity of humans. More humans more economy. And if you help integrate them, they become more productive sooner, as they will be part of more social activity. Bro are you still stuck in the 1700s? Are you Malthus?

              You got a source that proves this? Because most of the EU no longer has low skilled labor jobs, just like the USA. It’s what happens when your county gets away from manufacturing everything.

              https://www.statista.com/statistics/1171328/low-skilled-occupations-european-workforce/

              The prediction is it will continue to drop for non-skilled labor. This isn’t some unknown fact.

              Like do you think a Mexican arriving in Denver will… not eat? Buy clothes? Drive or use public transport? WORK? Immigrants actually contribute much more than they receive, as they usually arrive as working age adults. The state can get taxes and skip all the money spent of educating a child for 12 years.

              These caravans aren’t a seasonal Mexican worker. They’re full families from further south, bringing school aged children and babies across the border. So while the husband can work, he isn’t going to be able to support his entire family without gov. help. Hell we’re literally talking about why all the generations after X aren’t having kids and can’t move out from their parents homes. So either that’s a lie or you stating that a family of 6 can exist off of a single non-skilled income. So which is it?

              You really are clueless and just spew ideology and propaganda.

              No, but you seem to think the world exists like it does in the 20th century…

              The only reason the US is so powerful is because of all the fucking immigrants that arrived there in the 20th century ffs…

              Yeah no…but I’ll let you keep thinking that.

              And also, I hope you are emotionally prepared. The world WILL be China’s very very soon.

              Considering how the past decade has been going, I highly doubt that. COVID showed a ton of companies not to put all their eggs in one basket (china) for manufacturing. There is a reason a ton of new industry is popping up in other SEA countries.