Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, has quietly cut funding from a program that allows homeless people a safe space to sleep at night despite awarding the nonprofit organization that runs it more than half a million dollars to expand just six months earlier. 

The move marks a 180-degree turn from the efforts of his predecessor, Democratic Mayor Michael Hancock, in 2023 to double the number of safe parking sites in the city from two to four and comes as thousands of people, including undocumented immigrants, are scrambling for places to sleep at night.