Those who can’t prepare their homes in time for guests should not invite them. Welcoming people means having enough food and space to accommodate their needs. Encouraging people to congregate in a place ill-equipped to handle them is deceptive, irresponsible and mean.

Denver and Colorado Springs, separated by less than an hour, provide a stark contrast in the midst of the immigration border crisis. In the last two decades, Denver transitioned from “cow town” to a world-class, sophisticated city with some of the highest living costs in the country.

When a city gets expensive, it is a double-sided indicator. It typically means people want to live there, drawn by the city’s ability to support them with career options, an adequate housing supply and a reasonable level of public safety.

Denver appears on the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings as the 16th most expensive city in the country. Costly cities are typically victims of success. It means heavy demand that outstrips limited public and private resources. When demand quickly intensifies, resources cannot keep up.

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Populations can move from northern Mexico to Denver in less than 10 hours. Yet, we lack the resources and ability to establish adequate shelter — public or private — to keep up with busloads of foreigners arriving in Colorado by the day.

Denver, over the course of the past decade-plus, has virtue signaled compassion for migrants. The city, formally and in writing, mostly refuses to cooperate with federal immigration officials or even let them on city property at times.

Former three-term Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, on routine occasions, let the outside world know that Denver is a “sanctuary city.” Hancock’s successor, Mayor Michael Johnston, has welcomed migrants and refugees by placing them in luxury hotels. He wants to provide as much as possible, which he makes clear by begging the federal government to fund an ill-conceived welcome party.

Colorado Springs, by contrast, never has codified or communicated sanctuary status. Our community has compassion for the domestic homeless, many of whom are veterans. The City Council, mayors present and past, and county commissioners have never rented out hotels for waves of immigrants here illegally.

Colorado Springs has avoided a migrant influx that is crushing Denver socially and economically. It was as simple as being honest about what the city can and will provide.

Most recently, city and county officials in the Springs have made perfectly clear they do not run a “sanctuary” for foreigners in crisis. Telling immigrants we have nothing for them is truly compassionate; relative to inviting strangers, we can’t afford to dilute social services and resources that should help locals.

In a conversation with a Gazette editorial board member, Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade displayed again that he is not an establishment politician. He functions more pragmatically than politically. As such, he refuses to signal compassion his city can afford no more than Denver.

“It’s my job to serve Colorado Springs,” Mobolade said. “We aren’t going to take from residents so we can invite and provide for immigrants. We are not a sanctuary city, and we have no funds to rent out hotels.”

As an immigrant and naturalized citizen from Nigeria, Mobolade has a genuine compassion for immigrants. He is preparing to protect his community from a Denver-style invasion of tens of thousands of newcomers. Other locals are on board, and no one is pushing a sanctuary agenda.

“Allow me to state unequivocally that we will not be designated as a sanctuary county,” said El Paso Board of Commissioners Chair Cami Bremer.

This is genuine compassion. It makes no false promises to desperate foreigners and takes no resources from the low-income individuals and households we have.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board