Like many a blue burg, Denver is a “sanctuary city” for illegal aliens. That is, so long as it doesn’t have to actually deal with them on a level faced by the Texas towns buckling under the weight of a border crisis greatly exacerbated by open-door Democrats bearing hypothetical welcome mats.
The Rocky Mountain city has been hit with a crippling wave of thousands of illegals willing to take it up on its promise of safe harbor. How does Denver plan to solve this problem of its own making? By coming up with the kind of novel justification that can only be worked up in the minds of “consequences for thee but not for me” progressives.
Democrats have spent months casting Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in the role of archvillain for busing illegals out of his hard-pressed state to blue locales. Colorado Democrat Gov. Jared Polis has now decided to do the exact same thing. Far from disapproving, a relieved Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (D) is applauding him for the move.
But here’s the twist: Polis and Hancock insist there is nothing sinister about Colorado leftists shipping migrants to New York City. Denver, you see, is not their “preferred destination.” They’re not gun-toting Texas bigots, you see. Consider their act a concierge service for America’s new permanent guests.
‘This is Just Unfair’
“I appreciate [Polis] and the State for leaning in to support those coming to our city to reach their preferred destinations,” Hancock brazenly asserted in a Jan. 3 statement. His Democrat counterpart in The Big Apple is not happy to be on the receiving end of the self-serving sophistry progressives are so fond of doling out while inflicting their policies on the general public. “We were notified yesterday that the governor of Colorado is now stating that they are going to be sending migrants to places like New York and Chicago,” New York Mayor Eric Adams told a local radio host. “This is just unfair for local governments to have to take on this national obligation.”
“There’s no more room in the inn,” Adams lamented.
It must be particularly vexing to Adams to see Gov. Polis mouthing the same woke word salad so familiar to his administration as he conducts his complimentary one-way travel service for illegals at his expense. The Denver Post reports:
“In a [Jan. 3] news release, Polis’ office said about 70% of the migrants who arrived in Denver aren’t seeking to make Colorado their final destination. But ‘due to weather and workforce shortage, they have been experiencing transportation cancellations,’ hence the large number of people suddenly making their way to other places. The state is working with ‘culturally competent navigators’ to help people make their own travel decisions.”
Oh, the cruel tragedy of it all. Adams is literally being hoisted on his own “culturally competent” petard. The mayor has flung around this loaded social justice jargon on numerous occasions. In fact, he used the term just three weeks before Polis weaponized it against him while announcing a new community action plan for the city.
“The Action Plan contains five key ‘North Stars’ – foundational policy goals for New York City along with initial commitments from city government,” a Dec. 13 release from Adams’ office reads. “North Star #2: New York City public school students have access to culturally competent mental health resources.”
Democrats Don’t Apologize, They Double Down
In a razor-sharp Dec. 12 editorial, The Denver Gazette shredded Colorado Democrats for whining about an illegal alien catastrophe largely created by years of detached virtue signaling on their part. “Denver, always on the leading edge of woke ideology, made itself a full-fledged sanctuary city for illegal immigrants in 2014,” the online newspaper noted. “Three years later, in 2017, the Denver City Council codified Denver’s status as a sanctuary city with an ordinance that prohibits ‘city employees from collecting information on immigration or citizenship status; prohibits the sharing of any other information about individuals for purposes of immigration enforcement; and, memorializes predominant practices by prohibiting use of city resources or City cooperation with civil immigration enforcement…’”
The editorial provides names.
John Hickenlooper (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“Then-Gov. John Hickenlooper, serving today in the U.S. Senate [D-CO], declared in 2016 he would resist immigrant deportation by federal authorities. When federal authorities suggested cutting off federal funds to sanctuary cities, Mayor Michael Hancock resisted and called Denver ‘a city of opportunity for everyone.’”
And so they came. In droves. And now these same Democrats profess to be befuddled by it all. “After they arrived in Denver last week, Hickenlooper said ‘human lives are not political props,’” The Gazette continued. “They sure seemed like props when Hickenlooper and other Colorado leaders used them as abstract symbols of Colorado’s morality.”
Just so. Hickenlooper’s quote is the cherry on the poisoned sundae now being served up to bitter fellow Democrats in New York. It perfectly captures the unshakeable ability of progressives to claim the moral high ground even as their own failed policies crash all around them.
And why not? It’s one of the chief benefits of being comfortably perched atop an ivory tower. Nothing is ever your fault, and you can always dump your mess somewhere else.
