Denver has activated a second emergency shelter at a city recreation center to accommodate migrants arriving from the southern U.S. border. A third recreation center is also being used to provide shelter and reunification assistance for newly arriving migrants.
As of Wednesday, 271 people were at the city's first emergency facility that opened Dec. 6, when a group of almost 100 overwhelmed the already existing shelter. The city said area churches were helping 62 others.
"With migrants continuing to arrive in Denver, additional capacity is needed in order to ensure basic needs are being met while ensuring the city does not experience a humanitarian crisis of keeping hundreds of unhoused migrants displaced in our city," the city said in a statement.
The locations of these shelters are not being disclosed for safety and privacy concerns.
Many migrants are arriving from El Paso, TX.
Denverite spoke to a number of people at the city's first emergency shelter. Several said they had come from El Paso, where border shelters and nonprofits are struggling to provide aid to thousands being released by federal immigration authorities.
Ruben Garcia, the executive director for Annunciation House, said last week that groups like his along the border are working to grow a network across the country to help migrants find housing and other aid across the country. Denver is one of those places.
For months, nonprofits here have been calling for the state and city to mobilize to aid migrants with the potential end in sight of Title 42 -- a Trump-era policy that stopped families and individuals from entering the U.S. and applying for asylum.
