Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock has been penning a lot of letters.

After writing Department of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas on May 6 about the crisis unfolding in Denver 600 miles from the nearest southern border, Hancock also signed a letter with three other mayors requesting a meeting with President Joe Biden.

“This is a humanitarian crisis, and it’s not just happening at the border,” Hancock said in an email to The Denver Gazette.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner also signed onto the May 12 letter.

In their letter, the mayors said they want to discuss partnership opportunities to “ensure our nation humanely accommodates all asylum seekers.”

Each of these urban centers – except Denver – has long been considered a “gateway city” for newly arrived immigrants.

“Our cities have been hard at work doing more than our fair share and we need continued federal governmental assistance,” the mayors wrote, adding their cities have been on the “frontlines of this crisis.”

The mayors also noted that the federal government is responsible for the nation’s immigration policy.

As of Tuesday, the city of Denver has helped shelter 9,944 immigrants from Central and South America since December.

Those numbers pale in comparison to New York City, which has seen nearly 50,000 new arrivals seeking asylum over the past year.

To date, Denver has spent roughly $16 million responding to the crisis. Hancock said last week that the city has been reimbursed about $900,000 of those costs from the federal government.

“(W)e cannot continue to incur costs for the unprecedented and unbudgeted emergency needs of newly-arrived asylum-seekers as it threatens the financial stability of our cities,” the mayors wrote.

Denver has seen the number of immigrants arriving daily more than double in the days leading up to the end of Title 42, the federal code used during the pandemic to quickly expel refugees.

Title 42 expired on Thursday with the end of the COVID-19 emergency declaration.

Nearly 1,200 immigrants are being sheltered in Denver.

Many of these immigrants are fleeing corrupt regimes, Venezuela in particular.

The majority of these new arrivals – an estimated 70% – do not intend to stay in the Mile High City, officials said. 

The influx illustrates the calamity that’s been unfolding at U.S. border for months with the crisis spilling over into cities in America’s interior, including Denver, which is more than 600 miles from El Paso, Texas.

Officials noted that the bus fare to Denver is less expensive from West Texas to other places in the country. Organizations that support the immigrant community also highlight the resources and diversity in the community, as well as its status as a “sanctuary city,” as reasons attracting the immigrants to Denver.