The crisis erupted early last week when buses pulled up in front of the Denver Rescue Mission charity.
Courtesy | The daily arrival of 50 or 100 migrants to the city of Denver was reported
US authorities in Denver, Colorado, declared a “state of emergency” in response to the “humanitarian crisis” caused by the arrival of hundreds of migrants in recent days, some from El Paso (Texas) and many of them Venezuelans.
Mayor Michael Hancock indicated that the situation began to take shape “in recent months,” but that since last week 50 to 100 immigrants from various Latin American countries have arrived in Denver from the border with Mexico daily.
Migrants already overflowed the city of El Paso this week, from where they are moving to other states.
The mayor of Denver explained that emergency shelters no longer have the capacity to accommodate new immigrants.
“These massive arrivals of immigrants, the unplanned nature of their arrival, and our current space and staffing challenges have placed immense strain on the city’s resources, to the point where they are regarding to come to a breaking point this time,” Hancock said. when announcing the measure.
“What I don’t want to see is a local humanitarian crisis of migrants without shelter in our hands due to a lack of resources,” he emphasized.
The crisis erupted early last week when buses pulled up outside the Denver Rescue Mission charity, which helps homeless people in downtown Denver, leaving some 100 migrants there, most of them from Venezuela.
Denver opened two emergency shelters to house them, assuming that within a few days the immigrants would find a place to stay, be it with family or friends.
However, the opposite happened and more immigrants arrived, some from El Paso, in trips organized and coordinated by themselves.
Even the help provided by churches and community organizations proved insufficient.
For this reason, Hancock decided to declare Denver “in emergency,” a measure that speeds up access to local, state, and federal resources (including funds for housing), as well as activate a “reunification center” for immigrants to contact their relatives.
A Venezuelan, who preferred not to give his name due to his irregular immigration status, indicated that he had arrived in Denver with his three children “four days ago.”
“Here they were going to give me a job,” he stressed without apparently being explained the documentation he needs to have to legally obtain employment.
The man and his family are temporarily staying at a church, but he said they have to go now, noting that their requests on social media for help finding accommodation or work have gone unanswered.
“If someone gives me the opportunity, I even start to remove snow,” he said.
For their part, the cities of Colorado Springs and Aurora, the second and third most populous in Colorado, indicated that they will not receive immigrants.
While Fort Collins, the main city in the north of the state, announced last week that it would activate a shelter for undocumented immigrants, but that has not happened so far.
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