It likely won’t come as an earthquake or a hurricane, but the Aurora -Denver metro area is about to be struck by a disaster it’s ill-equipped to handle.
More than 30,000 Venezuelan immigrants have come to the metro region over the last year. Almost all of them have no home, no job, no prospects.
Denver has made Herculean efforts to house and feed as many migrants as possible. It’s not nearly enough, however, and it’s unfair and impractical to insist that the city continue to foot the bill of the tidal wave of immigration.
Out of money and space, Denver has warned the region that they will begin to evict men, children and women, who have nowhere to go but the streets in the middle of winter.
Because of the failure of Congress to logically solve the nation’s decades-long immigration quagmire, tens of thousands of lives are in real danger. Congress doubled down on their incompetence again this week, this time as Republicans in the Senate rejected a bi-partisan deal they just months ago demanded. Their political machinations are apparent and ruinous for the nation.
Most of these local migrants have arrived in Denver because of the criminally cruel politics of governors and state lawmakers in places like Texas and Florida.
Sometimes through trickery or outright shams, officials in Texas and Florida have for months been busing migrants to Denver, New York, Chicago and other “Democratic” cities as a form of political gamesmanship.
The tactics are far closer to being war crimes than political hijinks.
Even with endless resources, there is no practical way for metro-area governments to absorb 30,000 homeless and indigent people into the community.
The cost of even attempting to house so many people is beyond daunting.
Pushing so many people into the streets is inhumane and gravely dangerous. And while anti-immigrant zealots and racists insist otherwise, they are people.
The state’s congressional delegation should press upon President Joe Biden to declare the metro region a disaster area.
This, truly, is a job for the federal government, and in particular, FEMA.
The impending disaster caused by tens of thousands of homeless families from Venezuela, risking their lives, and the lives of others, came upon the region not unlike a tornado or an earthquake.
Florida and Texas regularly get FEMA funds to help those states cope with homelessness and other issues caused by imposed disasters.
Tens of thousands of Venezuelan refugees needing shelter, food, healthcare and education for children are vastly expensive necessities that only the federal government has the resources to provide.
This week, Aurora Public Schools officials reported that not only have they absorbed about 2,000 new children, many from Venezuela and other South American nations, but that because of state pupil counting regulations, the district may be having to spend millions of dollars educating many of these children, without state reimbursement.
The only thing that sets this aside from a wildfire, a flood, a tornado or an earthquake is that it is primarily the result of Texas and similar states imposing the disaster on Colorado.
Those state’s, too, should be forced to forfeit their own federal funds to handle immigration proportionately to what they’ve imposed on other communities.
But for now, the state and governments in the region must work together to address this crisis in the making. Denver and Aurora alone cannot handle absorbing the care of 30,000 homeless people. And a consortium of local and state governments must demand that the federal government provide money, food, medicine and other resources to ensure these refugees are properly cared for.
And care is not solely a need for welfare. More than anything, these refugees need and desperately want jobs. The nation’s dysfunctional congress is making legal employment virtually impossible.
This drives desperate immigrants into the black-market labor-force, a sure way to depress area wages and steal from these already mistreated migrants.
Congress and the White House must create a system for these immigrants to immediately join the workforce, boost the economy, work to make themselves self-sustaining and even help build the regional and state tax base.
But first, the federal and local governments must find a way for tens of thousands of indigent migrants to keep from living on metro streets, exposed to the region’s sometimes lethal winter.
Congress members Jason Crow and Diana DeGette should join with both Colorado senators to press the White House for immediate FEMA assistance, and Gov. Polis or the Regional Council of Governments should take the lead in creating a collaborative metro solution to care for these migrants immediately.
The Metro Area, Denver specifically, made themselves attractive to illegal aliens by enacting sanctuary policies. Metro Area governments are now reaping the rewards of their virtue signaling. If you throw down corn you will attract pigeons.
https://apnews.com/general-news-a3a4b54d76c94ea29f2239af5565693f
Uh a sanctuary city only means they don’t ask status if someone reports a crime, is a witness or when they pull folks over because people were afraid to report crimes based on their skin color, or to testify because the criminal was white and they were not. Also Native Americans and residents of this country were getting harassed, detained or deported all based on skin color not on legal standing. We have a elderly friend who was deported in Texas despite being born here, (as had his parents) because all he had was a drivers license (which should have been sufficient identification) and his family had to fight to get him home once they figured out what happened. It doesn’t promise anything else… stop spreading false info.
Let’s see here if the open-ended tsunami of illegal immigrants is a natural disaster as would qualify as a FEMA activity. The level of care FEMA was originally designed for was to step in and help balance out natural disaster complications. If you look at the act nowhere, does it talk about political caused disasters such as this.
Oh, and by the way, December 22, 2023 a letter to FEMA administer Deanne Criswell was sent to using political muscle to influence her for Federal funding and financial help. They are asking to enlarge FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program for 2024 to be disbursed in certain Colorado cities.
“Your prompt attention to this matter is not just a response to a pressing need; it is essential to ensuring thousands of new arrivals facing harsh and unpredictable conditions have shelter and support throughout winter,” the Dec. letter states.
Those signing onto the letter include U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, as well as U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette of Denver, Joe Neguse of Lafayette, Jason Crow of Centennial, Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood and Yadira Caraveo of Thornton.
The undeniable job for the Biden administration with open-boarder Czar Kamala Harris was to curb the problem not surge it.
So now it’s at our front door with these newest arrivals creating Aurora’s newest occupation – street squeegee soldiers showing up in force. I fully agree, watching this disaster on our streets. Denver taking over the Quality Inn Hotel on Abilene with 400 migrants, displacing American citizens to sleep in their cars. No problem though, Denver taxpayers willing to pay more for the rooms — you know- not enough rooms, to bad- so sad.
One citizen put out on the street works at JJ’s place as a cook. JJ’s is owned by city council member Danielle Jurinsky. Made news everywhere except this paper.
This is inappropriate policy for FEMA being spent and handed out for this politically created disaster. It could have been stopped but Oh- No, its full speed ahead, Operation-Open-Borders.
This is the tip of the iceberg and FEMA is not the answer.
A Joe Biden created disaster!
Really?!?! Bush was the governor of Texas prior to being president and even he did little to change the southern border situation. Immigration is such a very complicated issue. It will take a coordinated, comprehensive policy to change the situation….such as the groundbreaking bipartisan legislation that was tanked this week by Republicans legislators. They should be the target of your blame!
A bipartisan immigration bill failed in congress this week. It was the most thorough and significant legislation on the subject in decades. It would have resolved asylum in months rather than years, controlled the shear number of people coming in, increased funding for border control, and coordinated (and paid for!) the distribution and care of immigrants.
The pressure needs to remain on Congress to pass a COMPREHENSIVE national immigration bill.
The predicable outcome from cities with political leadership in cities like New York, San Francisco, Denver, Boulder to make themselves sanctuary cities and refusal to work with ICE has its consequences. These four cities and Colorado, took the left turn, which unlike Texas, who has been willing to work with ICE has been able for a little FEMA support.
In May 2019, Governor Jared Polis signed House Bill 1124 immediately prohibiting law enforcement officials in Colorado from holding undocumented immigrants solely on the basis of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement request. Boulder became a sanctuary city in 2017. April 2014 a Sheriff Department memo stating that Denver no longer honors immigration detainers. Further, this was codified into law by a city council ordinance in August 2017.
These cities choices carry perilous political liability. And now they should not put FEMA into the position to demand funding to bail out their self created earlier poor political judgment. Any more political muckety-mucks to continue to push this kind of thinking are equally misguided.
First off, Texas has not imposed this disaster upon Denver, Denver has done this to itself by declaring itself a sanctuary city and welcoming all migrants. Texas is simply sharing the overwhelming problem imposed upon itself with the rest of the nation; particularly cities who supported unrestrained immigration. Second, the nation’s immigration quagmire was created by the Biden administration when it reversed all of the executive orders of the Trump administration. Even under the Trump administration, the United States had one of the most generous legal immigration programs in the world.
If the mayor of Denver wants to play “Mother Teresa” to the whole world and he wants to run the city like it is a charity first, and a government for the citizens of Denver second, that is up to them. But it is unreasonable to expect taxpayers throughout the nation to foot the bill for their policies. Why should some poor soul in Nebraska have to pay for the decisions made by the citizens of Denver who elected this City Council.
Congress members Jason Crow and Diana DeGette should join with both Colorado senators to press the White House for immediate closure of the border. This can easily be done by President Biden reversing the executive orders he made upon taking office which opened the border to uncontrolled immigration. One cannot have a country with extremely generous social welfare programs and open borders at the same time.
The country is just beginning to experience the pain caused by Dementia Joe opening the floodgates for indigent, homeless, linguistically challenged, masses at the Southern Border. Denver you’re not alone, it’s happening in cities across America, where elected liberal officials decided Sanctuary Cities and States were a great idea. For now Denver can’t manage the cost for food, shelter or medical needs of the illegal invaders. Just wait until education, criminal justice and welfare costs begin to spike. Sure, you can go on bended knee and beg the Federal Government for help but with $34,000,000,000,000.00 in National Debt, don’t raise your expectations too high. A good place to begin digging yourselves out of this epic catastrophe is in the voting booths at Municipal, State and National Levels. You brought this upon yourselves, now deal with it!
We have had immigration and border issues for ay least the last four decades. Even Saint Reagan, or whoever was running the country in his name, was unable to take comprehensive and long lasting action. This has been true for every administration, that can only do what Congress enables it to do, by legislation and accompanying funds.
Blaming ‘sanctuary cities’ for the explosion of immigrants is like punching a bag full of jello: it has to bulge up someplace. Large cities such as New York, San Francisco, and Denver are places where the waves rolled in, but they did not create the tide.
This is a national crisis, and should be dealt with on a national basis. Until the ReTrumplicants get out of their own way and agree to a bipartisan immigration policy and accompanying legislation, any and all aid, including FEMA, should be made available to those places most affected.
HR 2 and HR 29 have been in limbo for months, Gene-o. But that doesn’t provide the 5,000 migrants a day your side wants to continue bringing into the country (4,000 more than what Obama deemed a “crisis level”); a bill that lets your side ignore “shutting down the border” any time it feels like it is hardly one to be passed.
Please reread my comment. Then repeat. What part of it are you responding to? Why do you continue to divide political views into ‘sides’? That kind of black/white, all or nothing thinking is emblematic of what is so wrong with any attempts at dialog or problem solving in our country today.
Remember that the bipartisan group worked on this border/immigration proposal for months, with each side giving concessions. By most accounts, the Dems gave up more than they got. But the fanatics in the House, eager to please their yellow crime boss, blew it all up. Are those the folk you identify as your side?
Texas sent them here to show us what Texas has been dealing with. The rest of the country doesn’t know what’s going on there. Governor Abbott did the right thing.
Denver got more than its share because the busses came straight up I-25.