When asked to elaborate on her message to Donald Trump and other supporters of America’s campaign against illegal immigration, Daniela Crisbell Burgos was right to the point.
“We’re not here to commit crimes,” she said. “We just want a stable place to live.”
Crisbell Burgos and her husband spent the morning cooking a hot meal over a propane burner late last month in a small camping tent set up on a sidewalk along a huge amusement park in downtown Denver.
Dozens of other tents lined the road, all occupied by migrants fleeing conflicts in Latin America and seeking asylum in the United States.
She told CBC News that she and her husband fled violence and political corruption in Venezuela two years ago and finally came to the United States in December. They were then quickly captured by the U.S. Border Patrol and placed in a holding cell.
Like many people who enter Texas, they were put on a charter bus. instructed They were moved north to so-called sanctuary cities by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Sanctuary cities are places that welcome such immigrants and seek to protect them from deportation and other federal prosecution.
In this case, it’s Denver.
But as illegal border crossings from Mexico into the U.S. surged to a record high in late 2023, cities are being flooded with migrants. almost 10,000 per day – slightly decreasing in early 2024.
Denver, a city of 710,000 people, especially because of Texas’ bus program (which is itself overwhelmed); was taken Over the past year, there has been an influx of more than 40,000 immigrants.
About half of them have since moved, the most of any city of its size in the United States.
Denver’s response to immigration
Crisbell Burgos’ husband now earns his living with a change squeegee cleaning car windows at Denver intersections most days, while she holds up handwritten signs begging for money.
“We’re not looking for government subsidies,” she told CBC. “We only ask for two things: a work permit and a safe place. Nothing else.
“We came here for a better future.”
John Ewing, a spokesman for the city of Denver, said despite the city’s determination to do all it can for immigrants, there are limited resources available.
Denver, like New York and Chicago, has declared itself a sanctuary city, providing municipal services to help immigrants resume their lives in the United States.
This includes providing immediate food and shelter (often in temporarily renovated downtown hotels), family counseling, help with paperwork to find work, long-term accommodation, and school system support. and so on.
The city’s immigration response has cost a lot of money so far. Spent It will cost over $60 million.
The immigration crisis spread north as migrants were bussed from Texas to sanctuary cities like Denver. CBC’s Paul Hunter visited the site to see what happens when migrants arrive and how the influx is straining city resources.
“There’s a big financial component to this,” Ewing said.
“We’re looking at $120 million. [US] Currently in the red.we’re still trying to find the cut [in services] Because it’s as painless as humanly possible. But it’s hard. ”
Ewing said federal lawmakers have failed to alleviate the challenges posed by a huge influx of immigrants, largely leaving cities like Denver to fend for themselves.
“At the end of the day, we can’t do this alone, so we need more support.”
But while there is strong public support in Denver to continue supporting immigrants, there is also a backlash against the city’s heavy spending and the health and safety of people like Crisbell Burgos who had to spend time in Denver. There are also concerns. encampment.
Ewing emphasized that the city will always find suitable shelter for migrants with children, but without an effective federal response, the challenges for Denver remain myriad.
“I think it’s going to take a long time. [to resolve this],” He said.
“We have a long road ahead of us.”
Battle for the White House
Amid this, the battle for the White House in November has begun.
According to most polls, about a quarter of American voters think immigration is the most important issue in the next presidential election.
Former President Donald Trump regularly makes this case as he seeks to return to office. In doing so, he uses fear as a weapon to underline his critics.
President Trump has called illegal immigrants “animals,” who “taint the blood” of the nation and, in Trump’s words, bring “carnage and chaos and murder from all over the world.”
Former US President Donald Trump has drawn heavy criticism for comments he made on the campaign trail over the weekend, in which he referred to immigrants as “animals” and suggested there would be “bloodshed” if he did not win the next election.
The former president largely omitted instances of violent crime in the United States Dropped Last year, it was 6%, despite a sharp rise in the number of immigrants entering the country.
President Joe Biden countered by reminding voters that a comprehensive legislative plan exists this year aimed at directly addressing the border crisis. Among other measures, it would tighten rules on asylum applications and, in some cases, allow borders to be temporarily closed. Both Democrats and Republicans supported the bill, but in the end, Republicans blocked it at the urging of Donald Trump, as Biden emphasized.
“Unsanctuary” Aurora
To be clear, multiple communities in Colorado also oppose Denver’s approach.
The city of Aurora, east of Denver, has explicitly declared itself a “non-sanctuary,” making it clear that there are no taxpayer-funded city services available to immigrants who go there.
City/County. Daniel Jurinsky told CBC that Aurora embraces diversity, but doesn’t want to get involved in cost challenges like the city of Denver.
“There is no way for us to absorb [these migrants] “Without significant impact on residents,” she said.
Mr. Jurinsky supports Mr. Trump’s view that these immigrants should be blocked from entering the United States until their asylum claims are processed, a process that could take years.
And she agrees that’s an important issue for voters heading into the November election.
“This is going to be a turning point.
“Americans are taking this very seriously. They’re going to vote in November with immigration in mind. They absolutely will. If the Joe Biden administration doesn’t realize that now… , I think they’re in big trouble.”
“It becomes less abstract.”
Back in Denver, volunteer organizations are stepping up their efforts while the city struggles to find a way forward.
The church’s basement, filled with donated clothing, footwear, and toiletries, also provides guidance for many immigrants to settle in the city.
Organizer Jennifer Kettering told CBC News the goal was two-fold. It’s not just about directly helping families in need, it’s also about sending a signal to those who oppose immigration.
“Our community made something happen when it was right near our homes, in our neighborhoods,” she said.
“I think the more a neighborhood gains its exposure, the less abstract it becomes. [that] Their children are just like our children. They need the same things, have the same personalities, and have the same sense of humor.
“And when you see that, it becomes hard to believe that people should just suffer and starve.”
But even volunteering takes time, energy, and money. The church donation center visited by CBC News was scheduled to close soon. So was the encampment near the amusement park that housed Crisbel Burgos and her husband. And while CBC News was meeting with the newly landed migrants at a hotel that had been turned into a migrant shelter, another bus arrived at the front door carrying more people.
In the church’s basement, another Venezuelan rummaged through a small box containing second-hand blankets, sweaters and boots.
“We are human beings,” Daris Dariz told CBC through an interpreter.
“We are hard workers. We are honest people.”
Then she broke down crying.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/denver-migrants-influx-1.7161780?cmp=rss
