On a recent visit to one of the nine migrant shelters the city and county of Denver operates, I heard dozens of stories from people who risked life and limb to make a life in the United States. One man tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Mr. Mayor, look at me. I walked 3,000 miles to be here. I have powerful hands, a strong back and a big heart. I can do any job to help this city, all I want is a job.”
In just the six months since I was sworn in as the mayor of Denver, the number of migrants needing shelter in our city has increased by more than 1,000%. We’ve already sheltered tens of thousands of newcomers and spent tens of millions of dollars to manage this influx. But while the scale of the issue is daunting, here in Denver, we know that the problem is solvable.
Every migrant I speak to tells me they don’t want any charity; they just want to work.
Our current immigration system simply isn’t working. Today, when someone arrives at the southern U.S. border seeking asylum with a valid asylum claim, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott puts them on buses to a city they never planned on going to. These buses often arrive in the middle of the night, leaving women and children in the freezing cold.
Americans of every political ideology can agree that this is a broken system. Every migrant I speak to tells me they don’t want any charity; they just want to work. When I speak to conservative business leaders, they say the same thing: Newcomers should work; I have open jobs; let me hire them. Migrants in our cities want to work and businesses want to hire them, yet the federal government continues to stand in the way of a common-sense solution. Congress must take steps that will resolve this humanitarian crisis for asylum-seekers and prevent a fiscal crisis for cities.
If we perpetuate the status quo, we will force local governments either to pay for perpetual public services for unemployed migrants, overwhelming city and state budgets, or cut back services for migrants and leave thousands of people homeless on our streets. Both “solutions” go against two core American values: We are a welcoming nation of immigrants, and anyone willing to work hard should be able to support their family.
But those shared values point to reforms that can unify Democrats and Republicans around a fair and effective solution. From conservative business leaders to progressive advocates, Denverites in every corner of our city know that our country has to unify around common-sense solutions to tackle this challenge.
Mayors like myself can’t afford to be ideological. We have to balance budgets, deliver city services, and make sure every resident in our city is housed, fed and safe. That’s why I led a coalition of mayors from five major American cities to show federal lawmakers and the White House the urgency of this problem, lay out the path to a clear bipartisan solution, and share why Congress must act to avoid a metastasizing crisis.
The full, unmet cost of addressing this problem will total more than $5 billion.
First, we need to increase judicial capacity at the border to resolve asylum cases within 30 days. The backlog of asylum cases has grown to more than 1 million; migrants arriving in Denver today won’t have their days in court until April 2027. Resolving cases faster will reduce the burden on the system and more quickly protect those with legitimate fears of violence and persecution.
Second, every arrival that has been evaluated and paroled into the country should receive work authorization within 30 days. If migrants arrived in a city with these authorizations, local officials could connect them to jobs and housing and not have them huddled in public recreation centers or sleeping in tents on our streets. They could make their own way without relying on public support and services. Third, when cases are adjudicated quickly and newcomers have the right to work, then cities can coordinate entry to communities across the country. No one locality decided where to send the tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees who have sheltered in the U.S. since Russia invaded their country. There was a coordinated national plan, and they integrated seamlessly into their new communities. We must do the same with asylum-seekers crossing our southern border. Finally, city budgets alone cannot solve this crisis. President Joe Biden’s supplemental request for emergency aid was an important down payment, investing in faster adjudication and critical resources for cities. Yet the full, unmet cost of addressing this problem will total more than $5 billion. Denver alone could spend up to $180 million on this challenge — nearly 15% of our entire city budget. Congress must step in to save municipal budgets from collapse. It’s still possible to reach a bipartisan solution that reflects our values. Fully funding services to keep families off the streets; allowing parents to work and provide for their children; treating each of our neighbors with dignity and respect, no matter when or how they arrived. We know the path forward. We can deliver a solution that keeps this country’s promise to “send us your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” and sets up cities for success. It’s time for Congress to act.
Mayor Mike Johnston
Mike Johnston is the mayor of Denver. 
