Denver officials have released a 15-step“playbook” that offers advice to other cities on how to successfully integrate illegal immigrants from the U.S. southern border.
The 24-page guide, called “Newcomers Playbook: A Guide to Welcoming Newcomers into Your City,” was published online Tuesday and outlines “best practices and procedures” for handling the influx of illegal immigrants.
“As part of Denver’s welcoming approach, we use the term ‘newcomers’ to refer to migrants, recognizing that they are new to our city and embracing a more inclusive language,” according to the introduction.
Denver has seen the most illegal immigrants than any other city in the country per capita, according to officials. The playbook boasts that the city has welcomed and assisted nearly 42,000 so-called “newcomers” from the southern border since December 2022. About half of those illegal immigrants have moved on to other cities, thus creating the need for such a playbook.
Colorado Mayor Mike Johnston first announced the manual last month.
“We’re proud this playbook will help newcomers resettle in cities with more opportunities, help cities across the country successfully welcome newcomers and reinvigorate workforces,” Mr. Johnston said in a statement last month.
This guide touts the new Denver Asylum Seekers Program as a long-term, “sustainable” response to the “newcomer crisis.”
The city has even appointed a director for its Newcomer Program, Sarah Plastino, to prioritize the city’s short and long-term response to new arrivals.
The playbook also outlines ways to provide shelter, transportation, and intake centers where illegal immigrants can get basic necessities, medical care, and legal advice. It further suggests cities should “enhance” their Spanish-speaking staff and set up a “newcomer monetary fund.”
While city officials boasted about the creation of the playbook, it also prompted major criticism among lawmakers who claim that it encourages cities to protect illegal aliens and invites them to live off taxpayer-funded programs in sanctuary cities.
“This is a guide that tells other cities how to follow the Denver model of bringing illegals into a city,” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said in a post on X.
“I wish I was joking, but this is reality. We need to vote out everyone in government who refers to illegal alien criminal invaders as “newcomers” and do so quickly. Our nation is being stolen from us and they’re complicit.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lewis publicly applauded the city’s migrant programs and announced his city’s collaboration with Denver, as well as New York City.
“All are welcome in Kansas City. Proud to work with my fellow mayors like @MikeJohnstonCO and @NYCMayor as we work to ensure decompression of new arriving communities and collaboration among cities, labor, non-profits, and federal officials,” he said in a social media post.
But in February, the Denver mayor announced that the city would be slashing millions of dollars in public services and reallocating those funds to support the illegal immigrants, a move he blamed on GOP lawmakers.
“The choice by Republicans in Congress to purposefully kill a historic, bipartisan border deal this week will have a devastating impact in Denver,” the mayor said in a previous statement.
Meanwhile, Mr. Johnston boasts that his city can solve the illegal immigrantion challenges and considers Denver a “national leader” in how to handle the influx.