Gov. Spencer Cox said he recently learned the Democratic mayor of Denver in the neighboring state of Colorado has sent thousands of migrants to Utah without properly notifying state authorities. The governor acknowledged the situation on Friday in a social media post following a KUTV News report on Thursday.

“We recently learned that the Democrat mayor of Denver has been sending illegal immigrants to Utah without proper notification or approval,” Cox said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This is completely unacceptable and follows on the failed catch-and-release policy of the Biden administration.”

His statement continued: “Every state has received illegal immigrants and Utah’s resources are completely depleted. All 50 states, including Utah, are now border states due to the failed immigration policies of President Biden and Congress. Once again we call on the Biden administration and Congress to solve this crisis.”

Denver City-County Department of Human Services confirmed with KUTV that the city had paid for the travel of roughly 2,000 migrants to Salt Lake City over the past two years. Migrants are flown or bused to locations based on their own request — they are not forced or encouraged to come to Salt Lake City, a Denver city official told the news station.