Mayors of Denver and Aurora Fight Over Illegal Migrants Dumped from Denver

Denver’s Democrat Mayor is covertly dumping illegal migrants — including criminals — into nearby Colorado cities, and the mayor of Aurora is demanding answers.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, is accusing Denver Democrat Mike Johnston of trying to push his migrant problem to non-governmental organizations and non-profits which then turn around and foist large numbers of migrants on nearby towns. Coffman is also claiming that Johnston has not been truthful about how all these migrants — including members of the dangerous Venezuelan Tren de Aragua street gang — have ended up in Aurora and other towns.

In an op ed published by The Gazette on Monday, Coffman said that Johnston has repeatedly told him in private conversations that he does not have any information on where migrants have been placed, nor how many of them might have criminal records. But Coffman laid out the facts showing that the organizations that Johnston paid to take the migrants off Denver’s hands were required by their city contracts to report such data to Denver officials.

Coffman said he asked Johnston about the migrants, and “He affirmed that Denver had contracts with nonprofits that ‘have’ placed migrants from Denver to Aurora but he refused to confirm a number, where they were housed, or what resources they were given. He defensively said that information wasn’t available.”

The Aurora mayor also said that Denver officials have stonewalled his request for the records from the NGOs and said the Mile High City can’t release the information because the records contain “personal identifiers” of migrants.

It all left Mayor Coffman in frustration.

Coffman blasted Johnston, saying, “Aurora has suffered from a national embarrassment that has harmed the image of our city in a way that could have lasting economic consequences. As the Mayor of Aurora, I’m asking that Mayor Mike Johnston be transparent and tell the truth about what he did.”

For his part, Johnston, a far-left Democrat, feigned shock at Coffman’s op ed, and said, “I’m surprised by this because Mayor Coffman and I have a collaborative relationship,” CBS News reported.

Worse, he tried to spin the issue, saying, “The City of Denver never places anyone anywhere.” Technically, he is correct. It is the NGOs Denver hires that does the “placing.” But that hairsplitting seems to be at the root of Coffman’s complaint.

Of the non-profits the city hires, Johnston explained, “We give them dollars and they decide on housing,” Johnston said. “Every day it’s looking for where that housing is and identifying what open unit it is. You might go to Thornton, you might go to Northglenn, you might go to Denver.”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a 16-year-old girl was gunned down and killed in her home when two males broke into her occupied apartment, the Aurora Police Department reported.

One neighbor told CBS that gunshots are heard nearly every night now, and threats from Tren de Aragua (TdA) are rampant in the area.

Aurora became the center of TdA activity and national news after the migrants were seen on video last August brandishing guns in the hallways of several apartment complexes. Donald Trump was excoriated for saying that TdA gang members had taken over the buildings, yet only a few months later, Aurora police arrested more than 14 suspected gang members and the same apartment buildings were condemned and shut down.

Meanwhile, Denver has splashed more than $356 million on migrants, amounting to an expenditure of nearly $8,000 per migrant over the last few years. And he is asking for even more spending on migrants.

As Breitbart News reported, Johnston is known for his generous support for President Joe Biden’s illegal migrants and promised to order the city’s police department to physically oppose the efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to fulfill President-elect Donald Trump’s repatriation mandate.

Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar” designate, has responded by saying he would jail Johnston if he broke the law in shielding illegal migrants.

“All he has to do is look at Arizona v. U.S., and he would see he’s breaking the law. But, look, me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing. He’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail.”

Johnston later tried to backtrack from his belligerent idea for the use of his police department, but still insisted that he would be proud to be arrested for defending illegal aliens.

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