DENVER BEGINS CLEANUP OF STREET ENCAMPMENT Influx of migrants continues
The campsite, with hundreds of migrants living there, was considered the largest in Denver
A fence enclosed the hundreds of tents lining the blocks around Zuni Street and Speer Boulevard on Wednesday morning as Denver police guarded the area and outreach workers helped the migrants who have been living there get ready to leave.
The city of Denver on Wednesday began the process of shutting down the makeshift campsite that first popped up in October, busing the Venezuelan migrants who had subsisting on the streets to large shelter spaces or apartment units.
People packed their belongings into big yellow trash bags, some taking their tents with them, others leaving them behind. Workers called it “organized chaos” as they figured out where to send everyone — though a tent that caught fire early Wednesday morning briefly paused that work.
In October, the number of asylum seekers who came to Denver rose significantly, reaching a peak at the time of 3,000. But the numbers haven’t slowed, and as of Wednesday afternoon, 4,394 migrants were staying in city shelter spaces — with hundreds more living on the streets.
Since the first bus of new arrivals to Denver in December 2022, the city has helped 36,059 migrants, the majority of whom are fleeing humanitarian and economic crises in Venezuela. Officials estimate about half decided to stay in Denver rather than move on to other cities.
There are now 10 times more migrants in city shelters than there were when the new Denver
City Council members took office a little more than five months ago. At this capacity, Mayor Mike Johnston told council members on Tuesday, the city may spend about $180 million on migrant response in 2024 — about 10% to 15% of Denver’s general fund budget.
With restrictions on how long individuals can stay in city shelters, combined with the influx of people — including some of whom were sent on buses chartered by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — several hundred migrants have ended up in tents, living on Denver’s streets, with the largest encampment forming at Zuni and Speer.
“The number of people hasn’t slowed down at all and has been going pretty much nonstop for the last month,” said Jon Ewing, spokesperson for the Denver
Department of Human Services. “December was a very challenging month to have that many people come in.”
With the holidays and time off, there already was a staffing deficit. Denver is still working to get a contract approved to hire nonprofits and local companies to provide migrant sheltering and support services, but until that happens, it falls to city staff and the partners.
In December alone, 144 buses dropped off migrants in Denver, according to city data.
City staffers said they have been working with the people living at the Zuni campsite for the past couple of weeks to