The unauthorized immigrant population in Colorado rose by more than 40,000 in just two years, a new report has found.

In 2021, Colorado had an estimated 160,000 unauthorized immigrants living in the state. Just two years later that figure had ballooned to more than 200,000, according to the Pew Research Center's most recent report on the issue.

That number coincides with the dramatic increase of immigrants — mostly from South and Central America — Denver started seeing two and a half years ago when a busload of immigrants were dropped off at Union Station in December 2022.

More than 43,000 have come since.

Jon Ewing, a spokesperson for Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, said he believed that Pew’s estimate would have captured most of the influx.

While city officials recorded the number of un

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