The Denver City Council is considering spending $500,000 more to feed immigrants currently staying in shelters.

The council’s homelessness committee on Wednesday passed the new contract to provide meals at the immigrant sites for three months. 

The contract could see a final City Council vote later this month. 

If approved, the city would have allocated more than $1.4 million with Colorado Hospitality Services to serve meals in immigrant shelters. So far, the city has allocated $925,000 for meals across city-provided immigrant shelters.

The city would have enough allocated to feed immigrants between March 31 and June 30, according to the city’s contract with Colorado Hospitality Service.

The number of immigrants staying in city shelters has dropped since January.

At one point in January, more than 5,200 immigrants lived in city shelters. As of Wednesday, that number is down to 970, according to Denver’s immigration count dashboard.

Originally, Mayor Mike Johnston anticipated the city would spend $180 million to feed, house, and transport immigrants. But the recent drop in immigrant occupancy rates prompted the mayor to close four shelters, which means the city is now projected to spend $120 million. 

The maximum stay in immigrant shelters is 42 days.

Nearly 40,000 immigrants have arrived in Colorado’s most populous city since late 2022 and the city has spent more than $61 million on the crisis.