Residents of a Colorado city packed a council meeting Monday night to express outrage over the prospect of becoming a sanctuary for migrants crossing the southern border, although officials have formally denied such an effort.

The city of Lakewood sits just a few miles from the state’s capital of Denver and the two cities often help each other. However, when Denver declared it would open its doors and become a sanctuary for migrants, Lakewood did not. As shelters that Denver opened for migrants reached capacity, the crisis now appears to be falling into the laps of Lakewood. 

Monday’s city council meeting comes as officials have signaled a desire to help their neighbor and as Lakewood was weighing whether to accept a federal grant it was offered for a facility to help the city’s homeless. 

Residents have expressed concern it could be used to house migrants in the city, bringing the border crisis to their community – and subsequently urged officials to use the shelter to help Lakewood’s residents and not migrants from Denver. 

“Approximately half of the new arrivals deliberately choose to be relocated. Today, Denver has purchased about 19,000 onward transportation tickets for migrants in 2023, exceeding 5 million in cost, which averages about $300 per ticket,” she explained.

Attendees raise their hands at a city council meeting in Lakewood on Feb. 6, 2024. (Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Hodgson reiterated: “Lakewood has no role in this program and has not been requested to participate in the onward travel program. The focus is an outreach to cities outside of the Denver metro region.”

Monday night’s city council meeting came after an emergency community meeting last Tuesday, when hundreds of residents voiced similar complaints.

Resident Karen Morgan, who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, said Lakewood has not used the word “sanctuary,” but it has used words such as “good neighbor, welcoming, inclusive, supporting, sheltering,” FOX31 reported.

“One definition of a sanctuary is the condition of being protected or comforted. Synonym: shelter,” she added.