Denver hit a new milestone Wednesday in the humanitarian crisis that now has seen more than 10,000 immigrants come to Denver over the past five months.

On Wednesday – with 162 new arrivals – Denver has now served 10,062 immigrants from Central and South America.

“Denver is a welcoming city and I am grateful to all our partners and city employees who have worked tirelessly to serve over 10,000 people who have come to us for refuge,” said Mayor Michael B. Hancock.

Hancock added, “However, Denver’s resources are not bottomless, and we continue to call on the federal government to send aid to cities across the country that are unfairly bearing the financial burden of this humanitarian crisis.”

While advocates say immigrants have been arriving since last fall, it only hit the radar of city officials in early December when a group of nearly a 100 people were dropped off downtown at Union Station.

Five shelters are housing more than 1,000 immigrants, the majority from Venezuela.

The Common Sense Institute (CSI), a non-partisan Colorado research organization, released an analysis Wednesday that examined the fiscal impact of the recent influx of immigrants in Denver.

Averaging 218 immigrants a day, the number coming to the Mile High City in the days leading up to Title 42 expiring with the end of the federal COVID-19 emergency declaration, was 10 times greater than in March and April, the analysis found.

Among the key findings:

? In days between May 4 to May 15, the immigrant surge will have brought the total response cost to an estimated $18.2 and $19.2 million.

? Denver could spend an additional $18 million to $23 million for the remainder of 2023, if 50 individuals come each day for the rest of the year.

? While it’s unclear whether this spending will cut into other budgeted priorities, Denver could deplete its contingency funds within the next few months.

As of last week, the city had spent roughly $16 million on the response.

Chris Brown, CSI vice president of policy and research, said the expiration of Title 42 – the controversial Trump Administration policy that allowed the U.S. to quickly expel immigrants – has required a significant financial commitment from the city of Denver.

“More migrants have come to Denver resulting in additional, unbudgeted expenditures between $4.2 million and $5.2 million,” Brown said in a statement.

With shelters at or nearing capacity with the new arrivals, officials are calling on churches and other organizations to assist the city with shelters and donations.

Anyone interested in helping should visit www.denvergov.org/migrantsupport.