Denver bought one-way bus tickets for 1,900 migrants

Where they went

BY JENNIFER BROWN AND JOHN INGOLD THE COLORADO SUN

Denver spent nearly a half-million dollars last month buying one-way Greyhound bus tickets to other cities for 1,900 migrants who arrived here after crossing the U.S. southern border, according to data released Friday to e Sun by city o cials.

e most popular destinations were New York and Illinois, but also Florida, Georgia and Texas.

e spending does not include tickets purchased by the city so far in January, or spending by the state, which paid for chartered buses for four or ve days this month to send groups of migrants to other destinations, mainly New York City and Chicago.

Denver sent 399 migrants to Chicago and 345 to New York City in December. e city also sent 122 to Atlanta, 95 each to Miami and Orlando, and 68 to Dallas. In all for the month, the city spent $492,000 on bus tickets.

State o cials have not yet responded to requests from e Sun for an accounting of the number of people taken to other cities on char- tered buses. e mayors of New York City and Chicago last week sent a letter to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis saying they “respectfully demand that you cease and desist sending migrants” to their cities. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and New York City Mayor Eric Adams said they had received hundreds of migrants from Colorado since December.

Sending migrants to other destinations has been controversial.

Polis said Colorado was stepping in to help people, mainly from politically unstable Venezuela, reach their nal destinations, where he said they had family or friends. He estimated 70% of migrants who arrived in Colorado during the past month were trying to get somewhere else. But he called o the chartered bus operations after talking to Lightfoot and Adams last week.

Denver o cials, meanwhile, reiterated Friday that none of the migrants was asked to leave the city, which has been housing hundreds of people each night in three emergency shelters set up to handle the in ux of newcomers, many of whom have arrived without warm clothing and wearing sandals. Since Dec. 9, more than 4,100 migrants from Central and South America have arrived