The number of immigrants who have crossed the U.S. border with Mexico spiked anew this week, with Denver officials reporting that more than 200 people arrived on Thursday, filling two of its four migrant shelters. The remaining two very soon won’t be able to accommodate more people.

The city said that, for much of April, between 20-30 immigrants arrived in Denver each day.

Officials, both in Denver and in the federal government, anticipate another surge following the expiration of “Title 42,”  the controversial Trump-era policy that expelled immigrants at the Mexico border during the pandemic.

“Over the past week, the number of new arrivals has been increasing significantly,” the city said.

In another sign of the spike, fewer than 400 people were staying in shelters last week, but, as of Friday morning, there were more than 660. Since December, Denver has accommodated more than 7,700 immigrants, costing the city more than $14 million through May 5, officials said. 

“Beginning Monday, Denver will follow updated federal guidance to provide emergency shelter only to newly arriving migrants who have been encountered by U.S. immigration officials, if there is capacity,” the city said. 

The city said it would continue to connect each immigrant who arrives in Denver to support services and resources. All arriving immigrants — or existing emergency shelters — will get backpacks with hygiene products, the city added. 

The inpouring of immigrants fleeing Central and South America — particularly Venezuela — is emblematic of the U.S. border crisis with Mexico, a humanitarian crisis that has spilled over into other cities, including Denver, which is more than 600 miles from the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas.

Indeed, cities feel the inescapable brunt of the crisis.

At one point, Mayor Michael B. Hancock said that Denver’s finances “are at the brink.”

“And as mayor and as members of City Council, as agency leaders, we’ve got to be honest and say we can’t do any more. We have come to that point,” he said, blaming the unfolding crisis in his city on the nation’s broken immigration system, saying cities are taking “the brunt” of the federal government’s failures. 

Hancock had issued an emergency declaration on Dec. 15, when the city housed about 400 immigrants in shelters. That number would keep growing — to more than 1,660 in early January.

City officials estimate that the vast majority of the immigrants who arrive in Denver later travel on to New York City, Chicago, Atlanta and Miami — so-called “destination” cities.

City officials said the immigrants pick Denver because of El Paso’s relative proximity to Denver, at least in terms of being able to get to the city by bus with relative ease. Organizations that support the immigrant community also highlight the resources and diversity in the community, as well as its status as a “sanctuary city,” as reasons attracting the immigrants to Denver. 

In its news release, they noted that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Denver would get only $909,000 of the $332.5 million available through the Emergency Food and Shelter Program.

“The city continues to call on Congress and the Biden administration to address this nationwide issue and advocate for local communities such as Denver that have been disproportionately tasked with handling and managing what is a growing national humanitarian crisis,” the city said. 

Reporter Nico Brambila contributed to this report.