Denver has closed its last immigrant shelter as the influx of people who traveled to the city after crossing the border illegally has decreased. Over the past 18 months, approximately 42,000 immigrants from Central and South America arrived in Denver, leading the city to reduce services and halt hiring in some areas to fund their care.
Initially, Denver decided to cover the costs of shelter, food, and onward travel for these immigrants, creating tension with officials in the destinations where they ultimately ended up. Following the closure of the hotel-turned-shelter, the city has moved the remaining immigrants to apartments or transitional housing.
According to the Denver Gazette, City officials have also closed other immigrant shelters and publicly reduced the shelter stay to 72 hours. During the crisis, the city temporarily paused exits for those already in the system and enforced the 72-hour limit for new arrivals.
The closure of the last shelter marks a new phase in which Denver's focus has shifted to providing more targeted assistance to a smaller number of immigrants. This includes support through a program aimed at helping asylum seekers find above-minimum-wage jobs.
Immigrants have arrived in Denver in waves, with periods of high influx followed by lulls lasting from weeks to months. At the peak of the last surge earlier this year, the city was sheltering around 5,000 immigrants, many of whom had crossed the southern border illegally.
Denver has learned a lot in how to respond to another surge, according to Denver Human Services Spokesperson Jon Ewing, who noted that the city has adjusted to the needs on the ground.
"At one point, the two weeks/six-week shelter model fit well with what we were seeing, but as the market for work for people without legal access to employment dried up, we decided to launch something more comprehensive for the hundreds still in our shelter system, We've tried to adapt by providing services that make sense for whatever situation we're experiencing."
Ewing added that the city is "currently seeing an average of six arrivals per day."
The Biden administration has allocated less money to Colorado in the latest round of federal funding for the immigration crisis, further straining Denver's resources. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) set aside $9.7 million for Colorado, split evenly between Denver and the state. This is a decrease from the previous fiscal year, when Colorado entities received $10.6 million, with Denver's share being approximately $9 million.
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