Migrants camping near Denver's Zuni, Speer intersection to be moved into shelters
The City and County of Denver continues to support migrants arriving from Central America and South America. Denver is currently operating seven migrant shelters.
Two more congregate shelter sites will open on Wednesday for the migrants gathered near Zuni Street and West 27th Avenue in Denver. The encampment will be cleared on Wednesday morning.
The downtown encampment has been growing for months. Piles of clothes, furniture and trash bags full of belongings line the tent-filled street. Buses and city services will arrive on Wednesday morning to clear the area and transport migrants to one of two new congregate shelter sites.
Jon Ewing, spokesperson for Denver Human Services, says the encampment is no longer safe.
"It's not humane. It's not in the best interest of the people staying there," Ewing said. "It's going to be cold this week. Let's get a roof over their heads. It will also make it easier for us to work with them and get them on to a better solution."
The goal is to connect migrants to housing or travel to preferred destinations.
The city's currently sheltering nearly 4,500 migrants. The addition of these two shelters will hold 320 more.
"The ultimate goal once they get into that congregate shelter site is for them not to be there in 30 days. The goal is to get them on to housing or something else," Ewing explained.
The city's been hosting housing clinics for the last week.
Ewing says 300 applicants have filed and 95 migrants are either in or on their way to rental homes.
The city will help cover their expenses.
"We got the first month's rent, we got the deposit, we got the security fees - that's covered. That's if you're working. If you're not working, we can do this for maybe up to three months with the expectation that you will continue looking for work," said Ewing.
Ewing acknowledged that finding work has been difficult for many.
CBS Colorado spoke to migrants eager for work and shelter as temps drop.
"It's getting cold. I'm a man, and I can't stand it. What these children need is a lot of support," said Alberto, a Venezuelan migrant living at the encampment. "Supposedly, they are going to take us to a shelter. We don't know where it is."
The city's asked that we do not disclose the location of the two new shelters sites.
Denver continues to remain a welcoming city for all migrants, but DHS says it doesn't have the resources to aid them forever. As of Jan. 2, the city has supported 35,834 migrants at a cost of more than $36 million.
"We need significant federal funding in the coming year. We've been saying that for months. We continue to say because it continues to be true. There is no way that Denver can do this alone and shouldn't have to," Ewing said.
The city says it's grateful for funding it has received so far to support migrant sheltering operations, including a reimbursement award of $3.5 million from the State of Colorado. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has advanced $1.6 million, and approved Denver for reimbursement of up to another $9 million in federal assistance.
