Denver’s Neighbors Rebel against Open-Arms Approach to Migrants: ‘We Do Not Want That’

In February 2018, Denver city leaders sent a valentine to foreigners interested in relocating to the progressive mountain city and a message to any elected officials looking to stop them.

Draped on Denver’s City and County building was a large, blue banner: “Denver ❤️ Immigrants.”

If it wasn’t clear enough, then-mayor Michael Hancock posted on social media that it was a statement of “love” to let immigrants know that Denver is “an open and welcoming city.”

Denver leaders unfurled that welcome banner six months after they passed an ordinance curtailing the city’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration agents during a Trump-era crackdown on illegal immigration. Hancock also issued an executive order at the time directing city agencies to aid illegal immigrants in Denver and setting up a legal defense fund for them.