The number of migrants landing in Denver, which threatened resources to a “breaking point,” has eased enough that the city is closing one of its emergency shelter spaces.
As of 11:30 a.m. Sunday, 42 migrants had arrived overnight — a stark drop in the numbers of migrants and asylum seekers that were arriving in Denver daily, according to data from the city’s Emergency Operations Center.
Last week, the city announced it would limit shelter stays to two weeks as it works to transition out of the recreation centers being used as temporary housing. Since Dec. 9, the city helped shelter 4,263 migrants — although a majority don’t intend to remain in Denver. Currently, 350 migrants are still in city emergency shelters and 521 in partner emergency shelters.
Many of the migrants, who are from and other Central American countries, have come via El Paso, Texas, though leaders say there was no real coordinated effort directing people to Denver. Experts speculate that asylum seekers have chosen to come to Colorado, particularly Denver, because of state and city laws that are friendly to immigrants.
Because of the reduction in people seeking shelter in recent days, Mayor Michael Hancock’s Deputy Chief of Staff Evan Dreyer had said city staff was working on transition plans for getting emergency shelters out of recreation centers. Those plans would include finding new space for future emergency sheltering efforts.
Migrants that were staying in the recreation center that’s being deactivated are moving to other shelter sites.
“This will restore a highly valued neighborhood resource to its regular users,” the city’s release stated.
