Denver has spent more than $30 million over roughly 11 months to respond to the unfolding crisis that has seen more than 25,000 immigrants who crossed the U.S. border with Mexico arriving in Colorado’s most populous city.

The bulk of that money went to personnel (39.5%) and facilities (24.7%), while officials spent nearly 15% — $4.2 million of the $30.6 million — on transportation costs as of last week.

City officials on Monday said the up-to-date costs amounted to more than $31 million.

State and city officials have estimated that about 70% of the arriving immigrants have stopped in The Mile High city on their way to somewhere else.

Early in the crisis, officials determined that Denver would pay to transport immigrants to the city of their choice.

Denver officials have transported immigrants to at least 46 states and Washington D.C., data obtained by the city shows. The top three choices are Chicago, New York and Salt Lake City.

The mayors of New York City and Chicago have criticized Gov. Jared Polis for shuffling immigrants around, an accusation that has also been leveled against Republican governors.

In a move that nabbed international headlines last spring, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began sending immigrants to states led by Democratic governors, including Colorado, in a program dubbed “Operation Lone Star.”

Since May, the Lone Star state has sent more than 6,600 immigrants to Denver, according to the Texas governor’s office. That’s more than Texas has sent to Los Angeles and Philadelphia, combined.

For its part, Denver has sent nearly 450 immigrants back to Texas, the majority to Dallas.

As of Monday, Denver has received 26,446 immigrants.

The influx exemplifies the crisis unfolding at the U.S. border for years that has now spilled over into America’s interior to cities like Denver — which is more than 600 miles from El Paso, Texas, the closest U.S. border.

Most of the arriving immigrants are from South and Central America, particularly Venezuela, which has descended into economic, humanitarian and political chaos since disputed Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro — the handpicked successor of former President Hugo Chávez — assumed power in 2013.

Immigrants have largely preferred more traditional gateway cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City.

Denver officials have scrambled to respond to the influx since immigrants began arriving in droves last December. Since then, the city has experienced the arrivals in waves with the latest swell in September.

Officials speculate the draw to Denver might be because of its relative proximity to the Mexico border, compared to New York or Chicago. Others say Denver’s reputation as a “sanctuary city” is leading them here. A “sanctuary city” typically describes a local government that adopts an official — or unofficial stance — not to cooperate with federal agencies on immigration enforcement.

Whether staying or leaving, the cost to temporarily house, feed and transport these new arrivals has largely fallen on Denver.

Here is a breakdown of the costs provided to The Denver Gazette:

Outlay Cost Percent

• Personnel: $12,096,101; 39.5%

• Facilities (including hotels): $7,573,785; 24.7%

• Food: $4,487,299; 14.6%

• Transportation: $4,289,568; 14.0%

• Services: $1,685,367; 5.5%

• Equipment & Supplies: $301,163; 1.0%

• Janitorial: $114,127; 0.4%

• Health Services: $88,170; 0.3%

• Total: $30,635,580

If an immigrant’s desired final destination is elsewhere, city officials have provided, at taxpayers’ expense, free transportation via bus, train or plane. The city, however, did not begin including the transportation type until the spring, leaving the tracking incomplete.

The city has purchased roughly 12,386 plane, train and bus tickets for immigrants to travel to the city of their choice.

The vast majority, though, were bus tickets, Jon Ewing, a Denver Human Services spokesperson, said via email.

Many of the arriving immigrants have support systems with family and friends in other cities, Ewing said, defending the city’s effort to send them elsewhere.

“Our priority is to ensure migrant guests are treated fairly and are placed in the situation that fits their needs,” Ewing said. “Individual tickets are purchased based on destination requests directly from migrants to various cities, after assurances are gathered that the individual or family truly desires the intended location.”

Roughly half of the more than $30 million spent on the response has been, or is expected to be, reimbursed by the state and federal government. That means city taxpayers will shoulder the rest of the cost.

Last week, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and a coalition of democratic mayors met with White House, Homeland Security officials and lawmakers to discuss the crisis.

President Joe Biden has requested from Congress $1.4 billion to help state and local governments to provide shelter and services to immigrants. That’s far short of the $5 billion Johnson and other mayors asked for.

These mayors — self-described as on the frontlines in the immigrant crisis — have also requested making work authorizations more quickly available to those permitted to live in the U.S., pitching a collaborative approach that mirrors how Ukrainian refugees were settled.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.