Denver city official caught on camera begging migrants to leave, head to Chicago, NYC: 'Going to suffer'

A Denver city official appeared to beg migrants to leave the sanctuary city that's been burdened with illegal immigrants in a leaked viral video.

In a video obtained by 9NEWS, city official Andres Carrera, Denver's Newcomer Communications Liaison, tells a group of migrants that the city's shelters can no longer help them, and they must go to other sanctuary cities or they "will suffer."

"The opportunities are over," Carrera reportedly tells the group in Spanish. "New York gives you more. Chicago gives you more. So I suggest you go there where there is longer-term shelter. There are also more job opportunities there." 

"We are not going to block you if you want to say here," he continues. "If you stay here you are going to suffer even more and I don’t want to see this."

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Venezulean migrants wait in a line to get paper work to be admitted to shelters at a migrant processing center on May 9, 2023, in Denver, Colorado.  ((Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images))

While the city official suggested New York, Chicago or Miami as destinations with more resources, he offered to transport them to any city they wished in the United States.

"You don’t have to walk anywhere, we can buy you a free ticket," Carrera added. "You can go to any city. We can take you up to the Canadian border, wherever!" 

A city spokesperson told 9News that they will not bus migrants to Canada but can take them to cities near the Canadian border if they desire.

After his speech, Carrerra asked the migrants to raise their hand if they wanted to leave Denver and go to another city where there is more work. The video appeared to show a handful of people raising their hands.

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Migrants sleeping in a Denver shelter on Jan. 13, 2023. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

"Who wants to stay in Denver?" he then asked. 

"Todos," or "everyone," one migrant replies, as several people are shown raising their hands in the video.

The sanctuary city has been struggling to stretch its limited resources to support the growing number of migrants in the city. Texas has transported thousands of migrants to sanctuary cities like Denver, to showcase the problems border states face when migrants flood their cities. 

A spokesperson for the city argued the video did not show a complete picture of the efforts Denver has made to help migrants. 

"This news clip showed such a small part of the work our team member did that evening, and just a fraction of the tireless amount of work he and the rest of the city’s team have put in to help newcomers who arrive in Denver," the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"Our city has received more than 40,000 newcomers, or 5.6% of our population, which is the most per capita of any city in the country. We’re proud of the support we’ve been able to offer so far, but without federal support, Denver does not have the resources or capacity to maintain this outsized share of the load."

"Given the number of people who have arrived in Denver, there are very few opportunities for work and housing, and those opportunities only continue to shrink. Encouraging onward travel to destinations where newcomers may have support networks or better opportunities will continue to be a critical part of our long-term strategy to ensure the greatest opportunity for success for both newcomers and the City of Denver," the statement continued.

A migrant shelter in Denver, Colorado.  (Pool Photo: Kevin J. Beaty)

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In February, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced the city would be closing four migrant shelters to cut costs incurred by the border crisis. 

City leaders also asked locals to rent their homes to illegal immigrants. 

Johnston, like Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, has pleaded for more federal aid to help their cities deal with the overwhelming number of migrants "crushing" the city's budget.

Fox News' Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.