Denver’s elected leaders may wave off the nation’s ongoing border crisis as Washington’s problem – but rest assured, Denverites are paying for it. Not just through the tax dollars they fork over to Uncle Sam, but also through the tab they pick up for City Hall. And they may be paying even more than the residents of other major U.S. cities hit by the wave of immigration.

That’s the upshot of a recent news report by The Gazette. Denver has spent more than $30 million over the last 11 months to respond to the unfolding crisis, in which more than 25,000 immigrants who crossed the U.S. border with Mexico have arrived in Colorado’s capital city. The bulk of the money has gone to local staff and facilities to handle the incoming.

To be precise, the total is actually over $31 million – and that’s just so far.

Most of the immigrants are coming from South and Central America. Many are from Venezuela, which has been mired in political and economic chaos ever since the South American nation’s ruler assumed power in a disputed election in 2013.

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The immigrants aren’t all staying in Denver, of course. State and local authorities estimate about 70% of the arrivals have stopped here on their way to somewhere else. But even that’s not necessarily good news for Denverites’ bottom line.

City Hall has spent around 15% of the $31 million, or $4.2 million, on transportation costs – to send the immigrants elsewhere. As The Gazette also reported after examining city data, Denver officials have transported immigrants to at least 46 states and Washington D.C. The top three destinations have been Chicago, New York and Salt Lake City. And mayors of those cities, not surprisingly, haven’t been happy about it. The mayors of New York City and Chicago have criticized Colorado’s Gov. Jared Polis and accused him of shuffling immigrants around.

Criticism also has been directed at the governor of Texas – whose state shares a 1,254-mile border with Mexico – for sending the immigrants crossing his border to points north. Including Denver. Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has been sending immigrants to states led by Democratic governors, including Colorado, in a program dubbed “Operation Lone Star.”

More than 6,600 of those immigrants have been sent to Denver, as The Gazette news staff learned from the Texas governor’s office. That’s more than Texas has sent to Los Angeles and Philadelphia, combined. Denver also has sent a few hundred back to Texas.

It all amounts to a senseless and costly game of human shuffleboard that is unfair not only to the woebegone immigrants being moved from city to city – but also to the Denver denizens who bear a disproportionate burden in covering the cost.

Who’s to blame? Certainly the Biden administration, which has failed its fundamental duty to secure our nation’s borders. But also Denver City Hall, which has unapologetically made Denver a sanctuary city for uncontrolled immigration. Successive mayors and City Councils have thumbed their noses at immigration authorities and other federal agencies, refusing to cooperate with the feds on even routine criminal-justice matters involving illegal immigrants.

Is it any wonder so many who have crossed the U.S. border illegally make their way to the Mile High City?

In that light, the Texas governor’s publicity stunt targeting cities like Denver might well be viewed as little more than a tip of his ten-gallon hat – to a status Denver’s own elected leaders long have sought.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board