XPost: alt.transgendered, talk.politics.guns, talk.politics.misc   
   XPost: misc.immigration.usa, alt.politics.homosexuality, sac.politics   
   From: remailer@domain.invalid   
      
   The latest influx of migrants who arrived by bus to Denver may have   
   surprised local and state officials, but they weren’t completely   
   unexpected, according to immigration advocates.   
      
   Approximately 600 migrants have made their way to Denver over the   
   past several months, according to the city’s emergency operations   
   center, though Colorado was not the final destination for all of   
   them. As of Monday afternoon, 153 migrants were staying in the   
   city’s emergency shelter, 48 in a church-run shelter, 52 had arrived   
   at homeless shelters overnight and 35 were planning to leave the   
   emergency shelter to stay with friends or family.   
      
   Where are the migrants coming from and where are they staying?   
   The bus of about 150 migrants that arrived last week in downtown   
   Denver was not chartered by any organization or sent as a political   
   move. The people arriving had self-funded their way to Denver, said   
   Jennifer Piper, interfaith organizing director for the American   
   Friends Service Committee. Her organization, along with Casa de paz,   
   Colorado Hosting Asylum Network and Denver Community Church are   
   working with the city to shelter migrants in the Denver Welcome   
   Center and to provide resources. Many of the migrants have traveled   
   through El Paso, Texas, and other border towns.   
      
   The migrants came into the U.S. from Central and South America, many   
   from Venezuela, to apply for asylum. About half the people who   
   arrived are looking to rejoin family members and may work some day   
   labor jobs to earn money to get to their next stop, Piper said.   
   About 50-100 people are arriving every day in Denver.   
      
   Some are coming by bus, some by personal vehicle, either making the   
   choice individually or through loosely organized groups, said city   
   spokesperson Jill Lis.   
      
   Why are more migrants making their way to Denver?   
   The situation in Venezuela has become untenable for many families   
   with ongoing political (including government persecution) and   
   humanitarian crises, and U.S. oil sanctions. People started to flee   
   Venezuela to other South American countries to find food and work,   
   but not every refugee has been able to settle in nearby countries,   
   so some have set their sights on the U.S. Or, some have tried to   
   stay in countries like Mexico, and had to flee again.   
      
   Additionally, the Biden administration decided to apply Title 42, a   
   Trump-era policy, to Venezuelans so they aren’t able seek asylum at   
   a port of entry but have to try to get it from outside the U.S. and   
   have a sponsor. Instead, many are forced to find a way to enter into   
   the country without detection — some get stopped at the border, get   
   expelled to Mexico and then make it back into the U.S.   
      
   Still, “we’re not seeing folks coming to Denver because there’s more   
   people suddenly coming to the U.S. than there was two weeks ago,”   
   Piper said. The journeys of those arriving in Denver began three or   
   four months ago.   
      
   The exact reason the migrants are choosing Denver varies.   
      
   “Denver is a very welcoming city. And so that may be something   
   people are hearing and understand and feel like it’s a feasible   
   option for them,” Lis said. “People are coming here in challenging   
   situations and just looking for a safe, welcoming place where they   
   might stop.”   
      
   https://www.denverpost.com/2022/12/13/colorado-migrants-venezuela-   
   what-we-know/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)