A Denver city leader was caught on camera urging migrant families to move elsewhere because "opportunities" in Denver "are over."
In a clip obtained by NBC Denver affiliate 9NEWS, Andres Carrera, the city's newcomer communications liaison — and Democrat Mayor Mike Johnston's political director — told migrants that Denver can't support them.
"The opportunities are over," Carrera told the group 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."
NBC Denver noted that Denver also offers to pay for migrants' bus fare to destinations of their choice.
The migrant group Carrera was addressing arrived in Denver on March 26 on a bus organized by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, NBC Denver reported.
"We have received too many migrants, and that is why we ran out of resources," Carrera told migrants at Denver's main migrant shelter. "We are not going to block you if you want to say here. If you stay here you are going to suffer even more, and I don't want to see this."
Denver is enforcing strict limits on how long newly arrived migrants can stay in city shelters: two weeks for individuals and six weeks for families with children.
"You don't have to walk anywhere, we can buy you a free ticket," Carrera said in the video. "You can go to any city. We can take you up to the Canadian border, wherever."
A city spokesperson told NBC Denver that Denver isn't buying bus tickets but will help migrants travel to cities near the Canadian border if they ask.
In the clip, Carrera made the case for migrants to head to Chicago, New York, and Miami as destinations with more resources and more Spanish speakers.
"OK, who wants to travel to different cities where there is more work?" — to which there's little reaction seen. "Who wants to stay in Denver?" he then asked.
"Todos," a migrant replies — everyone.
As of Sunday, 40,283 migrants have entered the city, in total amounting to about 5.6% of Denver's population — including 61 newcomers on Easter Sunday, Newsweek reported, adding that 754 migrants are currently sheltered as per the city's migrant dashboard.
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