Denver is paying travel costs to send migrants to Utah — roughly 2,000 so far — even as the state, Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County lack capacity to care for them, and as they urge asylum seekers to go someplace else.
"They arrived in Salt Lake City with very little information other than instructions to find a person in uniform to help," said Salt Lake Police Chief Mike Brown, in an email to the department. "I have, myself, communicated our displeasure," said Andrew Roberts, chief of staff for Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, adding local resources cannot "absorb" an influx of migrants.
"There is no space available in shelters," said the flyer, which contains the state seal, and logos for Salt Lake City and County. "Food banks and other basic needs services are at capacity. If you do not have a secure and stable connection or family in Utah, consider another state to settle in the US."