Nine buses from Texas unloaded hundreds of immigrants Sunday, prompting panic and a change of tactics among officials who for months have grappled with an influx — and multiple waves — of new arrivals that threaten the city’s shelter capacity.

The new wave prompted the city to cut down the length of stay at shelters for some immigrant populations.

Jon Ewing, a Denver Human Services spokesperson, blamed the latest immigrant surge on Texas.

“They’re not even asking if they want to come to Denver or not. They’re just sending them,” Ewing said.

Ewing did not know how many immigrants from South and Central America had arrived on the nine buses Sunday.

Democratic-led governors and their Republican counterparts have taken jabs at each other for busing immigrants out of their state and into another.

Earlier this year, the mayors of New York City and Chicago criticized Gov. Jared Polis for sending immigrants in Denver to their cities. At the time the city had provided 1,900 bus tickets for immigrants to travel to more than 100 U.S. cities.

And when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent his first busload of immigrants to Denver in May, former Mayor Michael B. Hancock threatened to give the Republican governor a bill for the “stunt.”

Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott’s press secretary, could not be immediately reached for comment Monday on the immigrants bused from Texas over the weekend.

Last week, as the number of border crossing swelled in El Paso, Texas, Abbott said he would continue busing immigrants out of the Lone Star State.

He made international headlines last year when he sent immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard and to Vice President Kamala Harris’ D.C. residence. Since employing his busing strategy, Abbott has sent more than 45,000 immigrants to the states of Democratic governors with “self-declared sanctuary cities.”

Generally, a sanctuary city is one that establishes a policy discouraging local law enforcement from reporting an individual’s immigration status to federal authorities.

Since May, Texas has bused more than 2,400 immigrants to Denver, according to the Abbott administration.

As of Monday, Denver has housed 21,568 immigrants — mostly from Venezuela — with roughly 2,400 currently in shelters. The city has seen an increase of more than 500 individuals since Friday and a doubling within two weeks.

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.

‘We don’t anticipate hitting capacity’

City officials have characterized the number of immigrants arriving this month as unprecedented, saying the surge “is affecting shelter capacity and straining staffing availability.”

Neither the Salvation Army nor the Denver Rescue Mission — both city partners — is sounding the alarm about capacity, yet.

“We’ll certainly never turn anyone away who wants to use our services,” said Stephen Hinkel, a Denver Rescue Mission spokesperson.

Hinkel added, “We don’t anticipate hitting capacity anytime real soon.”

Laura Wilson, a spokesperson for the Salvation Army Intermountain Division based in Denver, agreed.

“One of the big differences we’re seeing is that migrants are staying longer in our shelter,” Wilson said.

In response to the influx of immigrants, the City and County of Denver is modifying its length-of-stay policies for immigrant shelters, cutting down the time by a week for some and increasing by the same length for others.

The shelter stay for adults without children will go from 21 days to 14 starting Wednesday. Families will see a seven-day increase in shelters from 30 to 37 days.

This latest surge marks the third wave since 90 immigrants were dropped off at Union Station downtown in December. The second wave occurred in May with the end of Title 42, the federal policy first deployed by the Trump administration to swiftly expel immigrants to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

While the majority of the new arrivals are stopping in The Mile High City on their way to more traditional gateway cities — such as Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York City — the cost to house and transport these immigrants has largely fallen on Denver.

Officials have speculated immigrants have chosen Denver because of its relative proximity to the Mexico border.

To date, Denver has spent more than $26 million on the humanitarian crisis. Roughly half of those costs have been reimbursed by the state and federal government.

Jordan Fuja, a spokesperson for Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, declined to comment.

The Hancock administration twice declared emergencies because of the influx of immigrants, the first of which was before the cost to taxpayers hit $1 million.

It’s unclear what threshold spending Denver could hit before becoming untenable, but officials assert the city continue to welcome immigrants.

“We’re going to be OK,” Ewing said. “We’re going to find the money.”