Douglas County, Colorado, Commissioner George Teal said his community is not a sanctuary city and that the new ordinance directed towards buses dropping off hundreds of illegal immigrants is reflective of that.
“No more freeloading,” Teal told “Fox & Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones on Thursday. “We thought this ordinance was required to make sure that we can keep our community safe.”
Under the ordinance, buses dropping off “commercial passengers” in “unplanned locations” in Douglas County could face fines up to $1,000 per passenger and buses may be seized by local law enforcement.
“Denver got on the bandwagon of the anti-Trump fad of declaring a sanctuary city early, among Democrat cities across the nation,” Teal said. “We’re not a Democrat county. We’re a community that is mostly Republican. We were never going to be a sanctuary county.”
Douglas County is not the only Colorado community trying to distance themselves from Denver, which advertised itself as a sanctuary city. Local officials in Monument went so far as to take a formal vote to affirm the town’s status as a “non-sanctuary city” as fears grow about the possibility of migrants leaving Denver for nearby communities, reports Fox News.
The migrant crisis has put a substantial financial strain on Denver, its resources, and is causing its hospitals to dive deep into debt due to illegal immigrants not paying their medical bills. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced in February the closure of four migrant shelters and the goal of reallocating nearly $60 million back into city services.
The migrants, Johnston claims, would not be kicked out after shelters close. He said they will simply be moved to different facilities.