Too rosy a picture being painted of Denver migrant crisis, speakers say

Venezuelan migrant Dorka Perez addresses the Denver City Council.Photo byDenver 8/City and County of Denver

People who spoke during public comment period Monday at the Denver City Council meeting said phone app and social media users are depicting the migrant crisis in Denver all wrong.

Tyler Greene said they make it look like the migrants all receive free housing, food and legal assistance. She said city officials pick certain families to use as examples for the media. She said a narrative is being advanced that everything is rosy for the migrants when in fact they are struggling and losing trust in the system.

V. Reeves, an advocate for people experirencing homelessness with Housekeys Action Network Denver, agreed. Only 250 people have been accepted to the Denver Asylum Seekers Program, or DASP, she said. According to new contracts recently approved by the city, 300 more will be assisted between now and the end of 2025. But there are at least 2,000 migrants trying to survive in Denver who are not being helped, Reeves said. She said many people did get housing but when assistance ended two or three months later they returned to the street because they could not find employment.

Venezuelan migrant falls ill, faces bill

Speaking through an interpreter, Dorka Perez, a migrant from Venezuela, said she is living in a hotel. She pays $350 per week for her room where she said she stays with four of her cousins. She sells Venezuelan food in a Home Depot parking to make money, she explained.

She said she recently became ill and had to go to the hospital. She said she received excellent care but now must pay a medical bill of $1,045. If she does not pay on time, she said, the amount only will go up. She asked the council for help with the bill. The council does not respond to comments made during public comment period in order to allow as as many people as possible to speak during the 30 minutes.

Reeves said some migrant families are paying as much as $450 per week for motel rooms. She believes some still are living in encampments, as she actively was assisting families living outdoors as recently as recently as the end of last month, she said. Many families struggle between paying for a motel room and buying formula for their babies, she added. “I’m here to say there’s still a lot to be done to support the migrants.”

The Denver migrant influx nearly has ceased for now, with only five newcomers arriving Sunday and none Monday, according to the online migrant dashboard. But Denver still awarded $11 million in contracts Monday to house 300 migrants enrolled in its coveted Asylum Seekers Program through July 31, 2025.

Janitors, food workers complain about wages, benefits

Also Monday, janitors and food workers complained to the council about their wages and working conditions. C. Antonio Woods said he works for a company that prepares food and beverages for United Airlines flights. He said he needs more affordable health care as a benefit and also wants flight benefits restored. “We deserve better and we are going to fight to win.”

Speaking through an interpreter, Yuliana Guerrero said she works as a janitor in Denver and makes less than minimum wage. She said the company has offered workers a raise of 45 cents per year. In the meantime, they used to clean three floors of a building during an eight-hour shift, Guerrero said of her crew, and now are being asked to clean seven or eight floors.