Denver warns new migrants to leave sanctuary city and move elsewhere - saying that their lack of resources means asylum seekers will 'suffer'

A Denver city official begged migrant families to move on to other sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago, warning them that a lack of resources in Colorado would cause them to 'suffer.'

In a clip first obtained by 9NEWS, Communications Liaison Andres Carrera urges a group of recent arrivals inside a migrant shelter to look for support in other places.

'The opportunities are over,' Carrera says in Spanish. 'New York gives you more. Chicago gives you more. So I suggest you go there where there is longer-term shelter. There are also more job opportunities there.'

The overburdened city has allocated more than $100 million to provide housing, medical care and education for asylum seekers, according to Mayor Mike Johnston.

But amid the ongoing migrant crisis, that number could reach $180 million - 15 percent of Denver's annual budget.

The migrants in the video were bused into Denver on March 26, according to a city spokesperson, as part of an effort coordinated by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Abbott has been sending migrants from the Mexican border to Democrat-led sanctuary cities for over a year in an attempt to incite mass fury over the Biden administration's border policy.

'The lead importer of migrants to New York is not Texas, it’s Joe Biden,' the Republican said at an event held by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, in September. 'It’s a crisis. It’s chaotic and it must stop.'

In the footage, Carerra tells the crowd that Denver has 'received too many migrants' and has since run out of resources.

'If you stay here, you are going to suffer even more and I don’t want to see this,' he says.

Carerra then professes that officials will buy migrants tickets 'to any city. We can take you up to the Canadian border, wherever!'

As Denver imposes limits on the amount of time new arrivals can stay in city shelters - two weeks for individuals and six weeks for families with children - the city is offering incentives like paying for bus fare to destinations of their choice, including cities near the Canadian border.

The city has also begun to clear out migrant camps. Just last week, two camps were swept in one day: one in front of the Elitch Gardens amusement park and another in southwest Denver. 

While the migrants, mostly single men, initially refused to be bused to a shelter in protest, 23 of the roughly 55 people at Elitch Gardens later accepted while nine others asked for onward travel.

Other sanctuary cities have begun to do the same. As of Saturday, Chicago had emptied its state-run shelters at Rogers Park's Leona Beach and Little Village's Pietrowski Park.

Some 200 asylum seekers were taken elsewhere, including to a shuttered CVS in Little Village.

Last year, the city began opening camps in historically underserved Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, drawing the ire of longtime residents.

One community was Brighton Park, where the city signed a $91,400-a-month deal to lease land to build the first of the tent cities.

12th Alderwoman Julia Ramirez, who represents the district, claimed the deal was reached without her or the community's knowledge.

The crisis has reached a fever pitch in New York City, which has seen roughly 180,000 migrants enter since 2022. Under its “Right to Shelter” law, the city must provide food and housing.

Mayor Eric Adams beseeched the state to provide more funding during a joint legislative budget hearing last month. 

'New Yorkers are already carrying most of the asylum seekers. It is wrong to ask them to do more. It has put the city in a precarious situation,' he said at the time.

Amid strained resources, New York City has been forced to look for new ways to save money. This includes a program awarding debit cards to some migrants, which Adams defended at a press conference last week.

The city has contracted up to $53 million with a financial services company to supply the cards, which will be used strictly for food and basic necessities.

The pilot program launched March 25 with 10 families and will expand to 115 families, supplying those with children $350 a week for six weeks.

The city could save as much as $7.2 million a year under the program, which supplies funds directly to migrants, rather than paying for the production and delivery of boxed meals.

When asked if the provision of debit cards sent migrants crossing the border a 'mixed message,' Adams was defiant.

'It sends a mixed message when it’s distorted,' he said.