Despite facing a chumanitarian crisis Due to the massive arrival of immigrants sent by Republican governments from the border, Denver still receives these foreigners without limitations, who already face restrictions in the cities of Chicago and NYwho have faced this same problem.
Mayors Brandon Johnson and Eric Adams, of Chicago and New York, respectively, decreed restrictions at the end of last year for buses full of migrants sent to them mainly by the governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott.
However, the mayor of Denver, Democrat Mike Johnston, keeps the doors open to migrants, although he knows that the situation is financially “untenable” For the city.
The social and financial tension in Colorado’s capital is evident.
When Venezuelan Andreína arrived in Denver in the last days of December with her family, she did not anticipate spending the New Year in an improvised camp in the center of the city with 300 other Venezuelan families.
“I need help with food. “I don’t have a car and I can’t call food banks because I don’t have a phone that works in the United States,” he said to Andreína, who asked not to use her last name.
Venezuelan Gabriel, married with a young son, arrived in Denver on January 1 on a bus from Texas in which another 60 of his compatriots were also traveling.
“Who can help me? I need a market for my son. A food donation. “We are out of work,” Gabriel commented.
At least 36,000 migrants have arrived in Denver since the calls began arriving in mid-2022. “ghost buses” and even planes from Texas with the immigrants, many of them unaware of their destination.
Denver has become the city with the highest percentage per capita of new Venezuelan immigrants.
Federal senators from Colorado, Democrats Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and five other state Democratic congressmen asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to activate the Shelters and Services Program in Denver.
From November 2022 to now, Denver has allocated almost $40 million in its own funds to provide housing, food and basic services to newcomers.
And that figure would reach $180 million during 2024, Mayor Johnston reported on Wednesday, who maintained that this option (which represents almost 5% of the city’s annual budget) is “untenable”.
Other aid efforts are also running out of funds. Six weeks ago, Denver council members donated US$330,000 to help dozens of Venezuelan children sleeping on the streets.
“Instead of buying furniture for our offices or going on a trip, we decided to use our funds for this“said Councilor Amanda Sandoval, from District 1 of Denver, where the Venezuelan camps are concentrated.
This Tuesday, the Council approved a US$1.4 million contract with SNAP Colorado to provide food to immigrants housed in municipal shelters.
The councilors also announced the successful negotiation with the National Emergency Food Board (NBEF) to access a subsidy of US$ 1.6 million aimed at providing accommodation services for newly arrived families, which is added to another US$ 1.4 million recently approved for the Archdiocese of Denver to house migrants.
This subsidy was managed due to “the accumulation of clothes, furniture and garbage bags over months” in the Venezuelan camps in Denver, until reaching the level where “Those places are no longer safe,” Jon Ewing, spokesperson for the Denver Department of Human Services, said Wednesday.
“Its inhuman. It’s not good for the people who stay there. This week it will be cold. We will ensure that they have a roof over their heads. “That will also make it easier for us to work with them and get them to a better solution.”he added.
Currently, Ewing said, Denver is housing about 4,500 immigrants and several hundred more are expected to be moved to municipal shelters in the coming days. But even with the funds available, the project would not last more than a month, according to the spokesperson.
On the other hand, community aid organizations (food banks, churches, community centers) no longer have the resources to offer services to newcomers.
This week, Mayor Johnson of Chicago said that Abbott “He is determined to continue wreaking chaos” at the beginning “the very dangerous task of putting people on planes and taking them to our different cities.”
Johnson, who last November imposed restrictions on buses and planes carrying immigrants sent from Texas, said Abbott promotes “that kind of chaos that certainly divides the country.”
Last week, his New York counterpart also activated restrictions on the arrival of immigrant buses to that city, where up to 14 buses a day previously arrived, adding a total of about 160,000 migrants in just over a year.
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
