Johnston, who is fluent in Spanish, listened to concerns from Venezuelan migrants at the city’s welcoming center in north Denver in 2024. Photo courtesy of the Mayor’s Office

The City and County of Denver, the City of Chicago and Pima County, Arizona, are now part of a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, calling the move to revoke funding awarded to support migrants in their communities unconstitutional.

“While Donald Trump has time and again tried to divide the country instead of finding bipartisan solutions on immigration, the people of Denver stood up and stood together to help people in need,” says Denver Mayor Mike Johnston in a news release.  “The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) was intended for the sole purpose of reimbursing cities who did exactly that while following all federal, state, and local laws.

“Now, the Trump administration is illegally trying to punish cities who did the work the federal government couldn’t,” Johnston adds. “I am incredibly proud of how our city responded to this crisis and will continue to fight for the funding we were awarded but have not received.”

More than 43,000 migrants arrived in Denver since late 2022, some in buses from Texas. Johnston estimated that Denver would have to spend nearly $180 million in 2024 on housing, healthcare, education, transportation, and other costs associated with the migrant crisis.

In January of last year, Johnston traveled with other mayors to Washington, D.C. to ask for federal dollars and increased work authorizations for the migrants. He was disappointed to receive just $9 million, which he said would barely cover about three weeks of expenses.

Congress approved funds to reimburse states that supported migrants who were processed and released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security into the United States per federal immigration policy through the SSP. The program was administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with grants issued to cover costs

Johnston says once Trump took office, the administration acted to zero out all congressionally approved SSP grant balances without informing grantees.

Denver and the other plaintiffs say the actions are an attempt to override Congress’ constitutional authority to appropriate funds, and they claim the federal government violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide a reasoned basis for their actions.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston appeared before the U.S. House Oversight Committee on March 5 as part of what the committee described as an investigation of “sanctuary jurisdictions.”