The following is a statement from Mayor Yemi Mobolade regarding the City’s preparedness efforts
“What’s happening at the southern border is a crisis. What’s happening in Denver is a crisis. Since I took office in June, we have been monitoring this situation and potential impacts to Colorado Springs very closely and planning and preparing for all possible scenarios, as we do for any emergency that could impact our city. I want to be clear that Colorado Springs is not currently in an emergency situation regarding the arrival of migrants. However, we are aware that some migrant families have organically made their way to our city and have sought service at local nonprofit shelters. These arrivals were not coordinated by the City, the County or our nonprofits.
We will not invite this crisis into our city and we are not a sanctuary city. It’s the City’s duty to care for its residents first, and that remains our top priority. While we are called to serve and help those in need, as Mayor I will act as a thoughtful and careful steward of our taxpayer dollars. We must use these limited resources in support of and in service to our own residents first.
Hope, political grandstanding and simply saying ‘do not come here’ are not efficient response strategies. Benjamin Franklin said, ‘If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.’ We will not fail. We owe it to our residents to be prepared for any type of emergency situation. There are many factors that are not in our control and coordination is key. Our Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management is actively looking at and planning for different response scenarios should migrants arrive unannounced. PPROEM is reaching out to local nonprofits to understand their resource capacity, and what they are experiencing. Inaction brings consequences, especially since it likely pushes these issues to our public safety and first responders.”
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