Limit on shelter stays for families reinstated
Migrant families taking refuge in shelters in Denver will no longer be able to stay for an unlimited amount of time as the city responds to a continuing surge of people coming from the southern U.S. border, city officials said Wednesday.
The city in mid-november suspended its limits on how long migrant families with children could stay in shelters because of cold weather conditions, while keeping limits in place for individuals. But shelter staff will begin discharging families again on Feb. 5.
Before the moratorium, the city allowed families to stay in city shelters for 37 days, and now that will be extended to 42 days, according to a news release.
Individuals without children will continue to have a 14-day length-of-stay limit.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 4,426 migrants were staying in city-arranged shelters, according to a city data dashboard.
Many of the people who have come to Denver are Venezuelans.
Mayor Mike Johnston and Colorado’s Democratic congressional delegation have appealed to the federal government to provide financial support for cities that have seen influxes of migrants for more than a year. He traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to urge lawmakers to take action and to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting, where he planned to confer with other city leaders about the issue.
Johnston also is seeking a coordinated entry plan for the asylum seekers and faster work authorization approvals.
City officials say Denver has supported 37,602 asylum seekers since the first bus arrived in December 2022, at a cost of more than $38 million — with little federal or state reimbursement.
U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Reps. Jason Crow and Brittany Pettersen were set to join Johnston at a news conference Thursday to call for more federal assistance for Denver, Carbondale, Aurora and other cities providing support for migrants.
The number of arrivals have risen so significantly in recent months that hundreds of migrants set up tents outside as they timed out of the shelters. In recent weeks, city officials shut down two camps, offering the inhabitants either temporary shelter or options to help find more permanent housing.
Johnston has asked city departments and agencies to identify potential budget cuts as the city pays for sheltering.
“This influx — the fourth significant surge in arrivals since late 2022 — is straining capacity and based on current projections, could force the city to cut as much as $180 million from its annual budget,” Wednesday’s news release says. “While we recognize families need as much time as we can give them, we must once again limit the amount of time families can remain in shelter.”