More than 18,400 migrants have come to Denver since Christmas. 6,739 of them were bused to other cities.

More than 18,400 migrants have come to Denver since the first buses of people who are fleeing unsafe conditions in Venezuela began arriving in the city around Christmas, overwhelming shelters and city workers. 

The number of buses from the Texas border is rising again, with Denver officials accusing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of ramping up the frequency to several busloads per week. 

“We don’t track where all of the buses are coming from,” said Victoria Aguilar, a spokesperson for Denver Human Services, which is helping migrants find places to sleep once they arrive in Denver. “Those that we are tracking specifically, we know they are buses that are sent by Gov. Abbott.”

And while Colorado is pointing at Texas, Denver has sent more than one-third of the migrants who come here on to other other cities — mostly Chicago and New York City. Denver has since December paid for one-way tickets for 6,739 people trying to reach other parts of the country.

The next most popular destinations were Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Orlando, according to data provided to The Colorado Sun through a request under the Colorado Open Records Act. 

Denver officials say that migrants are requesting help to get to other places and that city staff are buying them bus tickets to get to their desired final destinations. “All of the tickets and destination cities are migrant requests,” Aguilar said.

From June through August, about 20 buses carrying about 700 people arrived in Denver from Texas, Aguilar said. Then in the past month, the pace picked up to several buses per week from various Texas cities and with travel logs connected to the governor’s office, she said. 

Denver already has spent more than $23 million since December helping the migrants, and the number of those sleeping in shelters throughout the city this month — about 1,300 per night — is climbing. The nightly number peaked in January at more than 1,800, but had dropped to fewer than 500 people over the summer. 

Nearly 150 migrants arrived Tuesday alone. Then 110 migrants came Wednesday.

The city has spent $9.4 million on personnel, $5.8 million on shelters and hotels, and nearly $3 million on transportation, according to a breakdown provided by the human services department.

As the migrants arrive downtown, they are directed to the city’s makeshift processing center, where they line up based on whether they want to stay in Colorado or are trying to make it to other cities where they typically have friends or relatives. 

Workers from many city departments have been reassigned to the emergency operations. Volunteers have brought food and clothing, and multiple churches have provided housing. 

“At the moment, we are just calling on all of our neighboring municipalities, our nonprofits, even our federal government to help us with this lift that we are facing,” Aguilar said. 

Nonprofits are collecting donations, and the city has a website listing needed items, including socks, bras and winter hats. The public can also donate money to the Newcomers Fund and can sign up to volunteer at the processing center and shelters, collect donations or serve as interpreters.

Migrants said they were fleeing violence and poverty in Venezuela, and that they traveled for months, walking through a rainforest and riding a Mexican train where they saw others get assaulted and kidnapped.

Those staying in Denver are going to shelters set up by churches and other organizations and are not in the same shelters used by people who are homeless, Aguilar said. “We have not seen any large impact yet on our people experiencing homelessness in Denver,” she said. “The city is doing a good job to keep these as separate as possible.” 

The city, which was overwhelmed in December when migrants were arriving daily by the dozens and were sleeping in a parking garage on the Auraria college campus, has plans to outsource the services. Mayor Michael Johnston worked with city agencies on an official request for proposals for organizations that could contract for the work. Organizations have until Oct. 13 to apply.

Denver’s previous mayor, Democrat Michael Hancock, suggested in the spring that he would mail the Republican Texas governor a bill for his “latest stunt,” calling the migrant situation a humanitarian crisis that doesn’t need any further “political theater and partisan gamesmanship.” 

In December, the mayors of Chicago and New York, both Democrats, criticized Colorado Gov. Jared Polis for sending buses of migrants to their cities. 

Denver received $3.5 million from the state to help handle the costs of providing services, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is giving the city $8.6 million. The federal government provided $909,000 in July.