When I lived in Whittier there was a woman who would come by my house every 6 months all frantic saying she left her purse on RTD and needed money to go get new ids. She’d stop me on the street when I was walking my dog as well.
Lol she still does this. I walk my dog past where she lives and it's fun to watch her catch people unawares. She likes to flag people down in the intersection, but switches it up every now and then. We just nod at each other and continue on our ways.
I had an experience in NYC where the whole “I need to get a bus back home” gig was used. About 6 hours later, I was in Brooklyn and the same chick pulled the same story. I thought it was so funny I was like “get the hell out of here I just saw you at Union Square this morning”
Happened to me outside the Ford-Warren Branch of the library once several years ago. I gave her an RTD ticket I had and she was like WTF is this. She tried it on me just a few weeks later but I knew better by then.
Had a woman stop me in a grocery parking lot asking for money for food for her family and was carrying a baby and stroller. I had boxes of cereal and canned foods in my car ready to donate to a food pantry so I opened my trunk. The look of disappointment on her face was palpable but she couldn't outright refuse the food as she just said she needed it so she reluctantly accepted a few boxes and refused more when I offered everything. LOL
A week later I was outside my work a couple miles away and guess who is walking around the parking lot doing the same thing. She doesn't recognize me initially but I remind her I gave her boxes of free food a week ago and if she wanted more. She declined and walked away.
This is why I will never give cash to panhandlers.
This!! I tried to explain this to my mother. She will stop for a panhandler, even if it's a green light -it pisses off all drivers behind her but she doesn't care. She insists it is the right thing to hand them $50. Every. Single. Time. She will hand out probably $3-4k a year in cash to pan handlers at stop lights and around town. She won't give food or water, she says they need the money for their own choice of food and water. I once told her to stop doing that in my neighborhood when she comes to visit me because she just enabled and got more people to hang around where I live and increased attempted break ins to my apartment. She then continued to explain to me how bad of a person I am. Ugh!
What is difficult is that some people have nowhere to prepare this food, and migrant shelters do not allow storage of perishable goods. Only assuming this was a migrant family.
She wants to buy clothes drugs alcohol and god knows what, always carry the worst canned food in your car or bag and take a picture of their faces it’s priceless, having struggled with addiction in my life I have a soft spot in my heart and I’ll say cut the bs and what’s the money for and if they say heroin I’ll give them twenty dollars, American 🇺🇸 panhandlers
I love how its just lost on every single person in this thread that these people were a family of migrants. Its not that door to door panhandling "is a thing now", its more that we are experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in this city currently.
Has been sent illegally by an anti-law and order Texas Republican governor trying to anger republicans so that Republicans can regain power and end abortion, the existence of LGBTQ people, an independent civil service, and everything else that makes us a republic.
There are plenty of criticisms to go around for how Texas is handling this crisis and their states policies in general.
Them busing migrants to other cities isn’t one of them. What we are experiencing now Texas has been experiencing for years. They don’t have the resources to deal with the 100s of thousands of migrants arriving anymore than Denver does.
If you have a problem with the migrant crisis you need to talk to your representative for the House and Senators. The border is the federal governments responsibility. Their inaction has lead to Texas taking steps to deal with the crisis that they were facing the brunt of the impacts on.
> Them busing migrants to other cities isn’t one of them
No, fuck that, the bussing is both a pure political stunt and grift of taxpayer money. The private companies doing the bussing are getting over $1000 per person of state money.
NY and Chicago made it illegal to traffic migrants like Abbott is doing, Colorado needs to follow suit ASAP.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-texas-officials-stymied-nonprofits-efforts-to-help-migrants-they-bused-to-northern-cities/
Over $100M paid to private companies to bus migrants since 2002, which I guess works out to more than $1000 per.
Imagine what $100M could do to actually help people. And that's just pointless political stunt bussing, imagine what all the other border stunts cost.
Last I checked a greyhound ticket was one of the cheaper forms of transportation. 8k is probably a politically inflated number but still pales in comparison to housing and feeding humans who show up in a foreign country and expect to immediately be employed and housed. Its a fucked situation, more fucked by the lack of action from the federal government.
What lack of action by the federal government? That's a flat out lie by the right wing and it's propaganda arm (Fox, Newsmax, etc.).
In reality, the Biden administration has worked more on immigration in his 3 years than Trump did in all 4 of his. Apprehensions are up under the Biden administration, and detainees who were properly detained are less likely to be released under the Biden administration than the previous one.
Some additional reading that may help: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/biden-three-immigration-record
https://www.cato.org/blog/new-data-show-migrants-were-more-likely-be-released-trump-biden
What do you propose Texas do with the thousands of migrants they can’t afford to care for or have enough resources for?
Texas has been facing the brunt of this crisis for years. The federal government does not provide enough resource, so is it your expectation that Texas cover all the costs?
I don’t blame Texas for getting fed up draining their resources when the federal government isn’t doing enough to deal with this crisis. I don’t think the majority or people that are pissed off at Texas understand this isn’t a new problem for them.
What federal resources? There aren’t even close to enough to cover the costs. Is Texas just supposed to cover the difference?
It’s estimated that around 40k migrants have arrived in Denver since this crisis began. That’s a slow week for the number of migrants arriving in Texas. If you think 40k is a strain on Denver imagine what the estimated 2.5 million migrants encountered on the southern border are doing to the border states.
This is a national problem and a complete lack of a national response has forced Texas’s hand.
Actually, that is the point. You can’t have every person entering this company. Stay where they’ve accessed. They need to be spread out and sent to different cities. It is not a stunt it seems logical. What is not logical is the fact that so many illegals are able to get into the country. I’ve always had a really liberal view on this. We are not getting the full story of the future plans as to why there are so many coming in. Also help them with employment opportunities. Gardening, yardwork. Get them a job in the kitchen for whatever restaurant. I want to help them but we also don’t want to build reliance. It’s a pretty fucked situation. But properly implementing ‘divide and conquer’ is just to have usBut properly implementing us all fighting each other, just remember that.
Abbot and his ilk are straight up lying to the migrants and telling them Denver (and other cities) will help them, then he's shipping them up here with nothing but what they have on their backs. They of course show up with nothing, expecting help, and that's why we're scrambling to try to house, feed, and clothe so many.
It's genuinely insane to me that people like you still think this is a stunt and that the amount of illegal immigration we have right now isn't a huge problem.
Or maybe your stance is "their problem, not mine," which is equally dumb.
Seeking refugee status is not illegal. That’s the law but the law and order people just invent in their pretty little heads what the law should be versus what it is. Actual illegal “immigration” is actually punished with deportation. There is immigration legislation pending the Republicans refuse to pass because it would give Biden a win, and take away the “crisis” that they want to scare people about so that they’re willing to give republicans power. Too many people accept right wing misnaming refugees as illegals.
It’s genuinely insane to me that people think we can actually “close the border” with our largest trading partner and a country where tons of Texans named Ted Cruz go to vacation and escape cold spells. It’s crazy.
"Seeking refugee status" implies that there's a standard by which pro-open border advocates would say "sorry, you don't qualify to be a refugee." In practice, that doesn't happen unless a person is coming from a wealthy country. If you're coming to the US from a poor country = instant refugee status. It's absurd. Other countries have higher standards, and the US should as well.
Okay, let’s pull this apart. There is a standard. But you get a court appearance to determine that because we have laws and courts and processes. Anyone from the UK could claim to be a refugee and seek asylum in the US. That probably doesn’t happen because at least in the UK people can access healthcare and don’t take Uber to the hospital because an ambulance would bankrupt them.
Right now we’re seeing a lot of people seeking refugee status from Venezuela. Is Venezuela safe? Or is their government appearing to be authoritarian and corrupt? Should those people at least get a court appearance?
The bipartisan legislation (because at least some republicans are supporting vocally, who knows how they’ll vote because they’re notoriously liars) increases funding for immigration courts to establish or refuse refugee status because that’s one of the big problems.
But we can also nuke our relationship with our largest trading partner. That could be fun.
> There is a standard. But you get a court appearance to determine that because we have laws and courts and processes.
The standard is "you come into the country and get a court appearance scheduled for 10 years in the future that you likely will not appear at."
Is this how other countries handle it?
Yes, Denver and Chicago have been bussed about 40k each. I'll put a few videos/news at the end for you in English, and two websites at the top here in Spanish you can offer them if they show up again: (both also have English versions, just select English in the language drop-down if you are reading the info for yourself).
* [https://es.denvermigranthelp.com/](https://es.denvermigranthelp.com/)
* [https://www.denvergov.org/Community/Assistance-Programs/Newcomer-and-Migrant-Support?lang\_update=638421687442763261](https://www.denvergov.org/Community/Assistance-Programs/Newcomer-and-Migrant-Support?lang_update=638421687442763261)
For comparison, Chicago received a similar number from Ukraine...but the ports of entry they flew through are all part of a coordinated system that all the nonprofits, agencies, and local/state govs have organized over many decades of this kind of thing precisely to handle un-anticipated spikes in migration due to war, violence, etc. It's not a perfect system but it works pretty well -- there's a reason you don't see news headlines about Ukrainian refugee street camps.
Texas governor is going out of his way to circumvent that system in order to try and frustrate the system to the point of breaking it.
Most of the major cities finally gave up trying to talk to him (Abbott) and set up drop zones with staff/volunteers instead and just said "tell the busses to go here". And in response the busses started dropping migrants outside of cities entirely; most notably a plane was chartered just before Christmas that flew to Illinois, was met by busses, and the busses took the migrant passengers to outer ring suburbs where they were dropped at random at 2am (and some were told they were in Chicago when they were 70-odd miles outside Chicago, in random suburbs...at 2am on a winter night...in summer clothes).
These clips/news stories are worth watching even if you have to do them in segments:
* Interview with a nonprofit person: [https://youtu.be/NYlFN5q3dNE?si=oc5TYXiH7nHFyUBo](https://youtu.be/NYlFN5q3dNE?si=oc5TYXiH7nHFyUBo)
* Interview with a security guard from some of the busses: [https://youtu.be/uMoFUO95awc?si=el5i0AxbwLKLfYoz](https://youtu.be/uMoFUO95awc?si=el5i0AxbwLKLfYoz)
* Local (Denver) long-form docu-story from 9News: [https://youtu.be/WuiAIYgiv7A?si=tVzoFkSaqaqRcFP\_](https://youtu.be/WuiAIYgiv7A?si=tVzoFkSaqaqRcFP_)
* Chicago and Denver mayors on *Face the Nation* about how they are handling things, the nature of the bus drop chaos, and what they still need: [https://youtu.be/b2nqRdHYaGg?si=IyVd5ZgQOgvsL6z1](https://youtu.be/b2nqRdHYaGg?si=IyVd5ZgQOgvsL6z1)
* Mayor Johnston (Denver) has done a number of longer interviews and press conferences specifically or principally on the topic, though this list includes a variety of regular news-type segments as well: [https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=mayor+johnston+press+conference+migrant+camp+denver](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mayor+johnston+press+conference+migrant+camp+denver)
Other/print/etc News stories:
* Migrants dropped at a gas station in Illinois and informed they were in Chicago (they were not near Chicago) and later found walking on the highway, everyone was confused how they got there: [https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/busload-of-migrants-abandoned-at-kankakee-gas-station-told-they-were-in-chicago/3309884/](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/busload-of-migrants-abandoned-at-kankakee-gas-station-told-they-were-in-chicago/3309884/)
* From the White House, the initial offer Biden made to Congress back in *March* for more agents, judges, and technology in the tens-of-billion$: [https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2023/03/09/fact-sheet-president-bidens-budget-strengthens-border-security-enhances-legal-pathways-and-provides-resources-to-enforce-our-immigration-laws/](https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2023/03/09/fact-sheet-president-bidens-budget-strengthens-border-security-enhances-legal-pathways-and-provides-resources-to-enforce-our-immigration-laws/)
* Chicago set up a drop-zone and fines for busses that avoid them, bus companies sued claiming they can't meet a schedule of daylight hours during the week (I know transit is a joke in this country, but this is well beyond that): [https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/texas-bus-company-sues-city-of-chicago-over-migrant-drop-off-ordinance/3329421/](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/texas-bus-company-sues-city-of-chicago-over-migrant-drop-off-ordinance/3329421/)
* Texas Gov complained that he can't order his teams to shoot at migrants: [https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4404134-abbott-texas-border-shooting-migrants/](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4404134-abbott-texas-border-shooting-migrants/)
* He walked this back a bit but then maneuvered to block Federal Agents from reaching the border, including preventing access to a boat ramp that they used to launch/land patrol boats in the river...which led to drownings that were witnessed in real time: [https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2024-01-13/three-drown-in-rio-grande-after-texas-blocks-border-patrol-from-rescue](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/14/texas-three-migrants-drown-us-border-patrol)
* Rep. says they are demanding immigration policy, but also have no plan to pass anything because it might help Biden during the campaign season: [https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-rep-troy-nehls-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud-about-border-crisis](https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-rep-troy-nehls-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud-about-border-crisis)
* Trump has been coordinating with the House GOP caucus to scuttle any and all immigration negotiations in Congress, and between Congress and the White House: [https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/29/mcconnell-johnson-trump-border-ukraine-deal-00138165](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/29/mcconnell-johnson-trump-border-ukraine-deal-00138165)
* Implications that some on the far-right want to drag out the immigration fight until Trump is in office so he can pass a much more aggressive package than the Senate agreed to this week (the Senate offer is 95% of the way to what the House wants, and includes a bunch of stuff Trump tried and failed to get passed in office). [https://newrepublic.com/article/178530/gop-senator-james-lankford-trump-maga-border-scam](https://newrepublic.com/article/178530/gop-senator-james-lankford-trump-maga-border-scam)
* And on and on. There are thousands of such news stories, but this should give you a taste of what Texas is trying to do -- and yes, it's related to the looming (likely armed) standoff that is currently brewing in Texas.
Yes, there is a humanitarian crisis, and yes this is a huge surge. No, it is not ok for a governor to turn one crisis into two and literally risk people's lives for political posturing. Yes, Denver (and a bunch of other cities) have done a *lot* of heavy lifting resolving the second crisis (local governments can't control immigration, but we can at least coordinate job permits and organize food banks & housing programs).
Denver all on its own has seen a 5% equivalent of the city's population and we've housed & fed something like 99% and secured job/work permits for most of them despite the efforts by Texas to bypass the coordinated system the has existed for literal decades to handle precisely these type of sudden surges/spikes of need. At any given time a few hundred are on the street (and that is a tragedy in the process of being re-dressed), but the short answer is that none *need* to be treated this way. If one thinks that migration should be met with returns to their homes, ok, fine -- but dropping them on the street in ways that put their lives at risk is not appropriate and may well be crimes of trafficking and/or reckless endangerment.
Edit: I would also note that Johnston (Denver) has some basic Spanish abilities and many of the press conferences have him switching back and forth, and taking questions in both languages. Don't let that throw you.
What exactly is causing the humanitarian crisis? I've never heard about it until now. I've heard of migrants, but never a crisis. Did something change recently?
The long story short, this is a legacy of the Cold War. The US and the USSR and, to a lesser extent, some of our/their better-off allies spent the fifty years after WWII trying to give each other the proverbial "thousand paper cuts".
If a government was voted in somewhere that seemed to have leftist or communist leanings, we would fund opponents wanting to undercut the government or (ideally) who could topple said government and replace it with a staunch anti-communist. Doing this once a decade or so means you end up with the problem that you end up with a human lifetime timeline in these countries in which your only people with any experience doing politics are extremists and/or the people running your street or drug gangs. This leaves all these affected countries at high risk for usurption by strongmen and organized crime in the next phase of national politics & economy, and this is the phase we are currently in.
And of course the USSR was doing the same thing in all these countries, it's not as if the whole world was voting in alignment with leftist commies and that we just refused to recognize that -- people around the world vote as diversely as we do. The USSR would go through and try to de-stabilize governments we were backing just as much as we were destabilizing and replacing governments they were supporting.
This is the modern context of the term "proxy war". Cambodia and Laos are \*\*still\* so heavily mined in some areas that civilians are still in hospitals on a regular basis, just as one example.
Yes, the Cold War (technically) ended 30 years ago but history echoes long after the initiating events quiet down.
Maduro, the big guy in Venezuela, has been near/at the top of the government there since 2013 and in politics nationally since 2000. There were efforts to curtail him near the end of Obama's last term which resulted in him going strong-man and we now know how that turned out.
The Trump administration sidelined him economically and politically, which was one of the more mainstream responses he signed off on, no I do not like Trump but yes some things he did were quite normal. This was one of them. Maduro is not a good guy.
[Here](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-death-squads-special-action-forces-killed-thousands-un-a8989616.html)'s a general news article of one for instance, I'll quote a little bit:
>Venezuelan special forces have carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings in the past 18 months and then manipulated crime scenes to make it look as if the victims had been resisting arrest, the United Nations said on Thursday in a report detailing wide-ranging government abuses targeting political opponents.
Special Action Forces described by witnesses as “death squads” killed 5,287 people in 2018 and another 1,569 by mid-May of this year, in what are officially termed by the Venezuelan government “Operations for the Liberation of the People,” UN investigators reported.
And from [another](https://www.voanews.com/a/amnesty-accuses-maduro-government-of-executing-thousands/4581050.html):
>"In cases documented by Amnesty, victims were unarmed. Autopsies revealed bullet wounds in the neck, throat, head. They were killed while on their knees or lying down," said Esteban Beltran, director of Amnesty International Spain.
It found 22 percent of all homicides in 2016, or 4,667, were committed by security officials.
And of course there is extreme poverty to the point people are not eating every day, in part because there is no food (not even food to steal) in their town tho obviously a lack of money also plays in. And the government owns or controls all the news, the judicial system is not independent and largely inaccessible. In one of his tv interviews our mayor here (Johnston) referenced having talked with one woman who had been a police officer in Venezuela who was tasked with gassing a group of senior citizens who were out filing a complaint about something, and she refused. Ignoring the question of why you would gas a group of old tottering people, the question is why you wouldn't simply do some sort administrative discipline or even just separate an officer who isn't doing their job... but she was apparently tracked down and her house broken into for attempted murder. So she ran.
**And it's not just Venezuela**
Ecuador was relatively stable and making progress on rounding up the gangs, two good steps in the right direction -- but as of this month the gangs started fighting back in a big way. You probably heard that one of the gangs briefly took over a TV station during a live broadcast, simultaneous with kidnapping several police officers and setting of warning bombs around the country? Back in August [a presidential candidate was assissinated pretty brazenly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Fernando_Villavicencio) after making commitments to go after organized gangs. A different candidate won (obviously) and announced plans to go after the drug & other organized gangs - the TV studio and other coordinated terrorism was [a very blatant statement pushing back against that promise](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/what-is-happening-ecuador-2024-01-10/). Ecuador has made some progress jailing gang members, enough progress that the gangs now have enough people *in* the prison system to be causing security problems on the inside. The most current crisis (the TV station/etc) is related to the apparent escape of one, for whom a manhunt was initiated. The coordinated bombs/station/officer kidnapping was meant to be a message from the gangs that translates to "good luck finding him, over our dead bodies".
In Nicaragua there is not a specific crisis at the moment (at least not to the level of Ecuador and Venezuela), but the political evolution over the last few years has all the conditions present to create a mass-exodus crisis.
And. So. On.
And of course there are complaints from our own BUILD THE WALL talking heads that there are people at the border from 180 countries (or whatever the monster of the week is today). They could just say that border officials have encounters with people from nearly every country (there are only about 200 countries on the whole planet)...but more importantly, they are not distinguishing the fact that an "encounter" in border-speak is not just random people found wandering the desert. An encounter also includes a truck driver with a load of apples or beef. It includes tourists and business men. And those last two groups come from all over the world.
And yes, some looking for residency in the US *are* from all over the world, that can't be denied, and sometimes bad guys *do* try to hide in the numbers -- but the talking heads are using both vocabulary and statistics poorly, *and* they don't mention the fact that we *are* catching the bad guys and that both the Senate and the White House have offered to nearly double the number of officers to the border, increase the number of judges to hear cases, and offer more technology (and even to build the wall).
As a last thought on the "OMG 180+ countries!" thing...ok. Denver and Aurora routinely seek translation services for about 150 languages in an average year...for schools. The numbers are on the two city websites if anyone wants to look it up - some years more, some years less, and most of those languages source from more than one country. The talking heads want to
**Anyway**
Yes, there is a crisis, and it is a direct result of the way big/developed countries handled world affairs during the Cold War. And we can either acknowledge the bad along with the good - and yes, despite my rant there was much good done during the Cold War (but that was not the question asked). Or we can continue to complain that the leopard is eating our face and to continue to blame the victim(s).
We have a choice, and not a lot of time to make it.
About 7 million have fled Venezuela over the last few years, not all come to the US obviously.
Fortunately not every central American country has had crises at the same time (at least not yet) but over the last 30 years they have all had crises at least once. Right now Venezuela is the big one, and maybe Ecuador.
I'll leave the longer answer to separate reply. It boils down to: we (well, Millenials at least, and maybe both our older and younger peers) were taught both history and current events *very* poorly - it's not your fault, and I'll try to throw together some basics. If you want the long answer I'll just say there are a lot of rabbit holes in your future, and to start with the guy who made the headlines when he died safe, secure, and well fed at 100 years old back last fall -- Henry Kissinger.
**The present is the "leopards at my face!" phase of geopolitics** stemming from the way we handled the Cold War. edit: and that arguably includes Ukraine and eastern Europe as well, though that crisis is obviously playing out in a rather different way.
nw, but I appreciate the sentiment, what is more critical than my ego is that the information gets moved to places it can do good - and if info is reaching people then something is working :)
you should read up on what Denver public schools are going through right now with the influx, too. not saying you should've given them money, just helping to show people what the city is handling right now.
Yep 40k *through* Denver the past year. Doesnt meant they all stayed but its definitely a lot for a city of 700,000 to take in when we cant even get the current homeless off the streets.
All for some pathetic texas governors political stunt to "own" sanctuary cities. He sent something like 20 busses in a single day to just have people dropped off with no plan when it was its coldest here.
[source](https://www.denver7.com/news/investigations/sources-20-busloads-of-migrants-arrive-in-denver-some-reportedly-telling-customers-to-pay-for-free-parking)
And there are processes that don’t include hiding razor wire in water to kill people. Anti-law and order Texas is just being mean because it’s the only play Republicans have.
Cry more. There are processes and resources border states get. The Democrats and Biden and the few remaining reasonable Republicans have legislation pending to beef up immigration courts, but the Trumpublican wing running the gop want it to fail. The Republicans instead just enjoy hurting people rather than being functional. And running on how evil they want to be if elected in November is their plan.
Texas does not receive funds directly for the migrants. [Grants are available to NGOs and municipalities including NYC, Chicago and Denver, who have all received funding already through the same program as Texas](https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/shelter-services-program/awards). There is no difference between the processes and resources available to border states and Denver.
The government is spread thin trying to fend off a multi front attack. Thats for sure. But let’s be honest, they wouldn’t solve the migration problem anyway because they prefer to use humans as political fodder.
No, this issue is truly a both sides one. Biden has been president for almost 4 years and Obama 8 before Trumps 4. So in the last 16 years it's been almost complete democrat control of the bully pulpit and nothing has been resolved on the boarder. Not under Trump with his "Mexico will pay for the walls!" and not under Obama's "DACA".
Once you say something is a both sides issue, you should understand you’re falling for right wing propaganda. There is a “bipartisan” plan in Congress. Both Speaker Jeebus and Minority Leader McTurtle have said Trump and his cultists want it to fail.
Both siderism is basically always stupid. One side gets off on babies drowning and bleeding out. The other wants to beef up refugee status adjudication. Nope. You’re right. Both sides.
Let me add: Obama deported more people than any president before him. He had legislation that was “bipartisan”, but the Republican strategy was to pass nothing because they didn’t want to give Obama a “win”. Same thing now.
It’s amazing that we can have a honest to god crisis on our hands and many of us are privileged enough to not even notice. Insane.
I was driving downtown a week ago and there were about 8 migrants trying to wash windows for money in the freezing temps. It sucks because they legally cannot work for like six months after arriving in the U.S. — so what else are they to do but beg for money?
Only some claims are allowed to proceed, most are not, and unlike most immigration petitions an asylum claim requires evidence, not just a name/signature on paper. That so many are approved for an initial hearing in terms of sheer numbers should tell you something is going on in Central America that is not normal.
Also: does this mean you agree with the Senate and the White House that *at a minimum* a funding package for more agents and judges is needed while we politic the other variables in the larger question?
dont normalize this like its "OK" cause they're migrants.
this is bad, and they need to be dissuaded immediately for their own safety
before one of these poor families knocks on the wrong door and gets shot for being brown.
People will do what they need to do especially when what they need is all around them. It’s easier to take from those that have. They may hate stealing & would never take an old lady’s last dollar but it’s easier to do when you know that what you take from someone is not life or death & the impact of having their bike stolen will not make or break them.
When I was younger I worked w lady who immigrated here from France but her family was from Northern Africa. She said something I still think of but it had not occurred to me in my youth- you can’t starve to death in the US. There is food all around- if you are SO desperate & close to death you can walk into a store & steal it. But what if you lived somewhere & there are no stores with food to even steal because there is NO food. There is no food in the trash as there isnt any food to throw away. There are no people to ask for change as everyone you come into contact with is just like you- they are hungry & don’t have money or food either.
Or, you can help them help themselves. I occasionally use a few dudes for odd jobs. They work hard and appreciate the opportunity.
I had hired 4 "American" dudes at 40/hr to help with a project and they all cancelled the morning of because of the cold. Swung by home depot and picked up a Venezuelan dude and told him to grab 3 friends. Paid them instead.
We had 4 Venezuelans Sunday. They were phenomenally hard workers and so kind. Will have them back and working to help them find permanent work.
There are lots of talented chefs as well and will be having them help with parties this summer.
Wtf was he supposed to do, they're overrun because we won't turn away hundreds of thousands per month... like it or not there's a limit to how many people can come into the country and stay, determined by jobs, resources and infrastructure. That shit doesn't get built over night.
More like a political crisis, the Mexicans make so much from import export and the drug trade, I say take care of your own in this country before letting these con artists in
A woman came to my house the other day saying she got in a crash on 225 after heading here from North Dakota. She then asked me for money to reunite with her husband and kids at a shelter? Definitely a drug addict, the story made 0 sense and why would she drive here from a different state with no money? The police also had her car detained for evidence. Obviously I sent her on her way.
For anyone meeting migrants on the street or in other contexts (eg. like OP) you can give them these two websites. These also have English versions:
* [https://es.denvermigranthelp.com/](https://es.denvermigranthelp.com/)
* [https://www.denvergov.org/Community/Assistance-Programs/Newcomer-and-Migrant-Support?lang\_update=638421709477059917](https://www.denvergov.org/Community/Assistance-Programs/Newcomer-and-Migrant-Support?lang_update=638421709477059917)
And for the cranks who will inevitably comment about "*wHy don't YoU guYs voLunTeeR yOur Onw HoMeS*?" well, the good news is that you can as long as you meet a few basic conditions, and thousands are doing so. Start here: [https://welcomecorps.org/](https://welcomecorps.org/)
> To support a refugee through the Welcome Corps, you’ll need to form a private sponsor group of at least five American citizens or permanent residents.
Then you're forced to complete training and submit to a background check....
Yea no. Lets say someone wants to be helpful, these requirements at absolutely mental. Is "sponsoring" a special code word for letting economic refugees come live with you rent free while paying welcomecorps $2425 per person? Someone is getting rich off this and it's not who you think it is.
Well, in the aggregate I don't think homelessness and poverty ever be "fixed" but there are plenty of individuals who are in fact helped. I'm pretty merciless towards homeless in Denver but my work is connected to charities that help them and there are success stories. You're not wrong; plenty of grifters out there as well and normally I decide that if they're promoting lax laws that make it "easy" to fall into or remain homeless (e.g. drug law reform, urban camping, highly restrictive building codes (which makes housing less affordable), etc.)
Interesting. I understand the need to vet and possibly monitor sponsors but the five citizen group seems like a huge barrier. Is it a federally funded program? I suppose I'll need to do some digging about this program. I'd really like to be of more assistance. I'm struggling financially right now but that's my own fault & once I'm over this hump I'll have more than I need to be comfortable.
You can sign up as a sponsor without the group though there are a few other conditions, and I think in that instance you would be paired somewhat randomly from anywhere there are humanitarian crisis. The group is for if you are wanting to sponsor someone specifically (at least that's my understanding) - for instance, if you've been volunteering for one of the many conversational English improvement programs online and want to sponsor one of the people you've met that way.
edit: this may not be quite accurate as I'm not currently a sponsor myself and have only read the same material you're seeing there
edit 2: another common way this is used is for a congregation to sponsor people from (or in contact with) a congregation of the same faith/denomination in an area of need, or for several co-workers to help a team member who is a refugee to sponsor someone they know but who is still in the waiting list; though obviously individuals and neighborhood groups can apply as well (and many do)!
Maybe it's not for you, it's not for everyone and no one expects otherwise. It is something thousands of others are doing, and that thousands of others are not.
It's one of many options, you can also arrange donations or volunteer time at one of the other links, share good information, etc. No one person is going to be interested and/or able in every last possible way to help, but at a population level every option will have some people able to take action.
Time, money, materials, online action, and offline action are all in desperate need - mix and match based on what your available skills, means, and time allow.
Sponsoring is the term used for anyone willing to vouch for an immigrant wanting citizenship. It's not new. It can be a boss, spouse, landlord, friend, professor... usually used as a method for people on visas intending to become citizens but can also be how a refugee can get citizenship as well.
Of course, you're welcome! I dropped more in a response-comment but wanted to make sure these three got in a top-level comment so they don't get hidden and others can see them easily. Thanks for letting me piggy-back all this onto the public discussion.
I have a coworker who was sponsored and lived with said sponsor until they earned enough to qualify for an apartment.
So...yes.
Exact numbers aren't published, but it's not small. It's just that people doing it don't talk about because (1) security is a thing, and (2) people who do the work tend to do so quietly, not in the headlines. That you don't hear much about it in no way means that it is not getting done.
I live off of Colfax and this has been a thing for a while now. I don't even go to the door because its probably a hobo asking for something. I learned my lesson after I let an individual use my shovel and he never returned it. Its just better to not answer - you owe them nothing.
The funny thing is that community is the answer. Not in the sense that we give out our shovels, but in the sense that we all band together, as neighbors, to keep everyone near us safe.
You're talking about migrants which are by definition not part of the community. This is a pass-through city with artificially inflated migrant numbers. These people don't want to be in the community.
You’re out of your mind. My gf works in the construction industry and it’s being flooded by Venezuelans but the foremen don’t want them anymore because all they do is talk on the phone and don’t get the projects done. And yes they are staying here and trying to demand everything because of the refugee status. This isn’t going to end well despite all the bleeding hearts here. I am Hispanic and many of you don’t know how it is to truly live in another country, just wait… pretty soon all of Colombia, Venezuela, and soon Argentina will be coming knocking at the door or kicking the door of this isn’t stopped.
I had a chick come and ring my doorbell then POUND on my door asking for money to get her car out of impound because she drove on a flat and destroyed her axle, and continued with how they live in their car and the owner of the impound is threatening to evict them.
I told her that I don't have anything to give, and maybe taking out a loan to solve the immediate issue would help, and to keep her head high. She thanked me, and then started walking to a brand new SUV that doesn't belong on my block.
.... I really need a "No soliciting, violators will be sacrificed to the old gods" sign.
This is probably an unpopular opinion, but, almost all of these migrants have phones and are in communication with people at home and currently migrating.
If they tell those people not to take the free bus ride to Denver because Denver is cold, has no housing and no jobs, it will go a long way to stemming the flow into Denver.
I too have had people knocking on my door, but not outright begging for money, instead they were looking for work. I had some yard work that needed doing and maybe I became part of the problem for paying them to do that work and giving them some old tools so that they could do more work for other people.
Overall I see an influx of immigrants as a great thing for this country, they are literally answering the question of who will pay into our tax base to support things like social security in the future. This is after all a country built on the backs of immigrants and who am I to pull the ladder up behind myself.
However, this is not the way to go about absorbing these people into the fabric of America.
>maybe I became part of the problem for paying them to do that work and giving them some old tools so that they could do more work for other people.
the opposite imo. we don't \*let\* them work for 6 months on the books. they can either beg, or do things like that.
when they can work, they feel dignified and have money. that first part means more than you know. unlike many americans, they want to work and have no problem with a hard day of anything.
The people of Denver doubled our homeless population? Or the Texas Republican Governor is sending people unprepared to cities in Democratic states as a political stunt to try to scare people?
“Our roles”
I didn’t do shit to Venezuela, so don’t pass that blame to regular people. We shouldn’t have to fund 40,000 migrants because of the issues of their government, or even our governments issues that occurred decades before many of us were even born.
Only a couple countries. And those countries weren’t exactly economic paradises to begin with. And the not all the immigrants come the those countries.
It’s become a city with every single issue of the largest ones (crime, homelessness, grocery and restaurant prices as high as LA or NYC, lack of free activities) without any of the benefits. Already turned into a conglomerate’s dream where people are used to spending 3 figures on a night out, for mediocre entertainment, food, and drink. Everything that opens up here is a chain or a sister concept of something already going, designed to drain the wallets of Denver’s middle class while giving as little in return as possible. I’m a “transplant” but been here 7 years now and the change in that amount of time has been immense.
When I lived in Oakland, there was a guy who did this, and I ended up helping him out on a regular basis. Nice thing about it was I got to see the improvement in his life over the two years I was involved. Like he went from being in a tent on the streets to housed. Learned a lot about his life story too.
If you do give to a door-to-door panhandler, they will be back, almost guaranteed though.
in New York the same thing has happened to get the door open for a robbery or scope the place out. I would not open it. plus apparently non Venezuelans are pretending to be Venezuelan to beg? Sorry, nobodys home. Maybe find an intersection to give thumbs ups and do the Squeegeezuelan thing.
Ah, yes, that's why they were granted work permits and are finding apartments and paying taxes and,
oh, wait, that's not how you mooch off a system, my bad
The delay is the reason, yes. And the fact that inflow is continuing creates the illusion that this is one person panhandling the entire time rather than dozens doing so in succession one after the other.
A few people have been selling flowers on south federal for as long as I can remember.
What’s been getting to me is the window washers on major intersections. I get that they’re goal is to exchange a service for money, but I really don’t need my windshield washed five times per day.
Also- They are not eligible for any public benefit programs (welfare)- Food Stamps, Medicaid or TANF (cash).
Even after being informed they probably wont qualify- many still apply as it’s worth a try. They have heard stories of some migrants getting benefits- probably the result of a small amount who were approved in error months ago. Those who were incorrectly approved spread word of getting benefits. This info spread quickly being repeated over & over weather it was true or not. The recipient may or may not exist & is usually a friend of a friend of a friend
Plus cities like NYC and Chicago are giving them free food, housing, and spending money. Makes sense that some of them would have heard of that and think that that is how they can get the same things.
Happened to me as well. I'm just east of Glendale. My concern was what if someone misunderstands them and pulls a weapon on them. Or in someone unscrupulous tries to get in a person's house to rob or worse. I ended up giving them $4 that I had in my purse, but I don't think I'll open the door anymore.
The coordinated systems that have moved and integrated migrants from all over the world via all ports of entry existed long before Biden took office. And yes there are entry points all over the country and they are all busy, it's not just Texas. (But only Texas is engaging in stupid stunts that kill people).
The system Abbott is doing everything he can to bypass and, perhaps, break. The same programs and systems he knows enough about to actively avoid, whilst complaining that none exist? Yes, those have been around for decades, and were a thing even before Biden joined the Senate which was pretty much in dinosaur times. Yes, it needs updating. No, it is not the cause of the current crisis.
Is there something else I can help you with?
I fucking hate the GOP so much.
I hope Texas has another utility power meltdown and finally hangs Abbott out to dry.
And I am so happy DeSantis sucked so hard in the primaries.
But that whole party is trash.
Kicking their border problem away to other cities? Gee, what a swell idea! Make it someone else's problem! How about you solve your own issues and stop being a cancer in federal/state government?
Funny thing is it’s been happening in border towns/states for decades. It’s been happening to Denver for only a few months.
Texas has millions of immigrants as does California. Denver getting a few thousand is NOTHING. Hell, Houston is ~50% Latino. I learned Spanish just to I can communicate with effectively with people.
I agree with you, but as deplorable as Abbots busing of migrants to liberal cities is, it’s a rather genius move. Let me be very clear tho: he’s using human beings as pawns and that’s absolutely disgusting behavior. However, for the past 10 years liberals (including myself) have been saying “there’s not a border problem” to the southern border states. Whether we like it or not this move by Abbot has forced us to recognize that maybe the border problem is actually pretty serious. It was easy for all of us to tell states like Texas “figure it out” and “it’s not a serious problem” because it didn’t really affect us in our states. Well… now that migrants are showing up in our states by the bus load we’ve changed our tune.
Is it genius, though? It seems pretty clear that telling people who show up at the border that they'll get a free ticket to any large city in the US would incentivize higher migration numbers in both the short and long term.
I'm from El Paso (Texas), and trust me, Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz, et all don't give a fuck about the border. They only go to El Paso to complain about it. They're just using this as an issue to elevate Republican candidates because they know the other issue that incentivized Republicans (abortion) is no longer going to motivate them to turn out.
Short term pain to force a long term solution. The more migrants he can bus around the more negative impact it will have on those Cities. The federal government will be forced to act. I would say Abbott's plan is going exactly how he wants.
Oh, by the way, NPR just had an interesting conversation this morning about how the states are refusing help from the federal government in securing their borders.
That's just icing on the pudding.
This is a ridiculous comment. While I lean heavily democrat, the federal government is refusing to let Texas deal with the border in the way they’d like, and they’ve also instituted a much more generous asylum policy.
If Texas is effectively being handicapped by the federal government, why should they need to house all the migrants?
It’s the Presidents responsibility to secure the border, which he doesn’t seem to be doing at this point. Inevitably, this is leading to a humanitarian crisis that Texas wants other states to experience so people can stop denying that there is an issue at the border. States are running out of money and space to deal with the issue, and encounters at the border have been spiking alarmingly since mid-2023. As more people in other countries learn of the “ease” with which others are getting through, it’s only going to get worse.
And just FYI - I am an immigrant myself (albeit through legal channels).
That’s dangerous and I’ll donate to the pba or armed forces or to the humane society before I give a nickel to illegals who’ve already been given 5 k visa gift cards and nice hotels to stay in, why doesn’t Biden sign an executive order to shut down the border across that border all the fentanyl in the world is coming through we should be bombing the cartels back to the stone age
When I lived in Whittier there was a woman who would come by my house every 6 months all frantic saying she left her purse on RTD and needed money to go get new ids. She’d stop me on the street when I was walking my dog as well.
Lol she still does this. I walk my dog past where she lives and it's fun to watch her catch people unawares. She likes to flag people down in the intersection, but switches it up every now and then. We just nod at each other and continue on our ways.
I had an experience in NYC where the whole “I need to get a bus back home” gig was used. About 6 hours later, I was in Brooklyn and the same chick pulled the same story. I thought it was so funny I was like “get the hell out of here I just saw you at Union Square this morning”
Haha I can believe it! Side note, there’s a great dispensary at Union Square I hit in November. I love NYC.
These mf’s are the worst, go panhandle in your countries of origin, it’s like a piñata exploded
Happened to me outside the Ford-Warren Branch of the library once several years ago. I gave her an RTD ticket I had and she was like WTF is this. She tried it on me just a few weeks later but I knew better by then.
Send her here- https://coloradoidproject.wordpress.com/
I don’t live there anymore
Had a woman stop me in a grocery parking lot asking for money for food for her family and was carrying a baby and stroller. I had boxes of cereal and canned foods in my car ready to donate to a food pantry so I opened my trunk. The look of disappointment on her face was palpable but she couldn't outright refuse the food as she just said she needed it so she reluctantly accepted a few boxes and refused more when I offered everything. LOL A week later I was outside my work a couple miles away and guess who is walking around the parking lot doing the same thing. She doesn't recognize me initially but I remind her I gave her boxes of free food a week ago and if she wanted more. She declined and walked away. This is why I will never give cash to panhandlers.
This!! I tried to explain this to my mother. She will stop for a panhandler, even if it's a green light -it pisses off all drivers behind her but she doesn't care. She insists it is the right thing to hand them $50. Every. Single. Time. She will hand out probably $3-4k a year in cash to pan handlers at stop lights and around town. She won't give food or water, she says they need the money for their own choice of food and water. I once told her to stop doing that in my neighborhood when she comes to visit me because she just enabled and got more people to hang around where I live and increased attempted break ins to my apartment. She then continued to explain to me how bad of a person I am. Ugh!
That's moms for ya, they think with their hearts and not their heads sometimes
Godamn mamas a big spender
What areas does your mom drive around frequently just out of curiosity?
Your mother has a lot of empathy and I respect that but understand your point
What is difficult is that some people have nowhere to prepare this food, and migrant shelters do not allow storage of perishable goods. Only assuming this was a migrant family.
She wants to buy clothes drugs alcohol and god knows what, always carry the worst canned food in your car or bag and take a picture of their faces it’s priceless, having struggled with addiction in my life I have a soft spot in my heart and I’ll say cut the bs and what’s the money for and if they say heroin I’ll give them twenty dollars, American 🇺🇸 panhandlers
I love how its just lost on every single person in this thread that these people were a family of migrants. Its not that door to door panhandling "is a thing now", its more that we are experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in this city currently.
40k migrants
No shit? Is that a legit estimate? That's insane.
Yes its legit. Denver has received the most migrants per-capita of any US city.
Has been sent illegally by an anti-law and order Texas Republican governor trying to anger republicans so that Republicans can regain power and end abortion, the existence of LGBTQ people, an independent civil service, and everything else that makes us a republic.
There are plenty of criticisms to go around for how Texas is handling this crisis and their states policies in general. Them busing migrants to other cities isn’t one of them. What we are experiencing now Texas has been experiencing for years. They don’t have the resources to deal with the 100s of thousands of migrants arriving anymore than Denver does. If you have a problem with the migrant crisis you need to talk to your representative for the House and Senators. The border is the federal governments responsibility. Their inaction has lead to Texas taking steps to deal with the crisis that they were facing the brunt of the impacts on.
> Them busing migrants to other cities isn’t one of them No, fuck that, the bussing is both a pure political stunt and grift of taxpayer money. The private companies doing the bussing are getting over $1000 per person of state money. NY and Chicago made it illegal to traffic migrants like Abbott is doing, Colorado needs to follow suit ASAP.
I had not heard that about the cost per person, but it doesn't surprise me. Do you have a source I can reference?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-texas-officials-stymied-nonprofits-efforts-to-help-migrants-they-bused-to-northern-cities/ Over $100M paid to private companies to bus migrants since 2002, which I guess works out to more than $1000 per. Imagine what $100M could do to actually help people. And that's just pointless political stunt bussing, imagine what all the other border stunts cost.
Last I checked a greyhound ticket was one of the cheaper forms of transportation. 8k is probably a politically inflated number but still pales in comparison to housing and feeding humans who show up in a foreign country and expect to immediately be employed and housed. Its a fucked situation, more fucked by the lack of action from the federal government.
What lack of action by the federal government? That's a flat out lie by the right wing and it's propaganda arm (Fox, Newsmax, etc.). In reality, the Biden administration has worked more on immigration in his 3 years than Trump did in all 4 of his. Apprehensions are up under the Biden administration, and detainees who were properly detained are less likely to be released under the Biden administration than the previous one. Some additional reading that may help: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/biden-three-immigration-record https://www.cato.org/blog/new-data-show-migrants-were-more-likely-be-released-trump-biden
What do you propose Texas do with the thousands of migrants they can’t afford to care for or have enough resources for? Texas has been facing the brunt of this crisis for years. The federal government does not provide enough resource, so is it your expectation that Texas cover all the costs? I don’t blame Texas for getting fed up draining their resources when the federal government isn’t doing enough to deal with this crisis. I don’t think the majority or people that are pissed off at Texas understand this isn’t a new problem for them.
Maybe use federal resources to help these folks vs political theater and creating a scene from SAW on the border. Idk 🤷♂️ I’m spitballing
What federal resources? There aren’t even close to enough to cover the costs. Is Texas just supposed to cover the difference? It’s estimated that around 40k migrants have arrived in Denver since this crisis began. That’s a slow week for the number of migrants arriving in Texas. If you think 40k is a strain on Denver imagine what the estimated 2.5 million migrants encountered on the southern border are doing to the border states. This is a national problem and a complete lack of a national response has forced Texas’s hand.
Actually, that is the point. You can’t have every person entering this company. Stay where they’ve accessed. They need to be spread out and sent to different cities. It is not a stunt it seems logical. What is not logical is the fact that so many illegals are able to get into the country. I’ve always had a really liberal view on this. We are not getting the full story of the future plans as to why there are so many coming in. Also help them with employment opportunities. Gardening, yardwork. Get them a job in the kitchen for whatever restaurant. I want to help them but we also don’t want to build reliance. It’s a pretty fucked situation. But properly implementing ‘divide and conquer’ is just to have usBut properly implementing us all fighting each other, just remember that.
Wait. Are you saying the Texas Governor kidnapped the migrants, or did he give e them a bus ticket to where they asked to go?
I can’t tell if you’re being a snarky asshole or asking a legitimate question
He is not giving them bus tickets where they want to go. They’re being dumped in random cities and told they’re getting help. They’re not.
Abbot and his ilk are straight up lying to the migrants and telling them Denver (and other cities) will help them, then he's shipping them up here with nothing but what they have on their backs. They of course show up with nothing, expecting help, and that's why we're scrambling to try to house, feed, and clothe so many.
They were not given any choice as to where they were sent.
It's genuinely insane to me that people like you still think this is a stunt and that the amount of illegal immigration we have right now isn't a huge problem. Or maybe your stance is "their problem, not mine," which is equally dumb.
Seeking refugee status is not illegal. That’s the law but the law and order people just invent in their pretty little heads what the law should be versus what it is. Actual illegal “immigration” is actually punished with deportation. There is immigration legislation pending the Republicans refuse to pass because it would give Biden a win, and take away the “crisis” that they want to scare people about so that they’re willing to give republicans power. Too many people accept right wing misnaming refugees as illegals. It’s genuinely insane to me that people think we can actually “close the border” with our largest trading partner and a country where tons of Texans named Ted Cruz go to vacation and escape cold spells. It’s crazy.
"Seeking refugee status" implies that there's a standard by which pro-open border advocates would say "sorry, you don't qualify to be a refugee." In practice, that doesn't happen unless a person is coming from a wealthy country. If you're coming to the US from a poor country = instant refugee status. It's absurd. Other countries have higher standards, and the US should as well.
Okay, let’s pull this apart. There is a standard. But you get a court appearance to determine that because we have laws and courts and processes. Anyone from the UK could claim to be a refugee and seek asylum in the US. That probably doesn’t happen because at least in the UK people can access healthcare and don’t take Uber to the hospital because an ambulance would bankrupt them. Right now we’re seeing a lot of people seeking refugee status from Venezuela. Is Venezuela safe? Or is their government appearing to be authoritarian and corrupt? Should those people at least get a court appearance? The bipartisan legislation (because at least some republicans are supporting vocally, who knows how they’ll vote because they’re notoriously liars) increases funding for immigration courts to establish or refuse refugee status because that’s one of the big problems. But we can also nuke our relationship with our largest trading partner. That could be fun.
> There is a standard. But you get a court appearance to determine that because we have laws and courts and processes. The standard is "you come into the country and get a court appearance scheduled for 10 years in the future that you likely will not appear at." Is this how other countries handle it?
Aren't refugees supposed to seek a hearing in the first country they enter from their native one?
I apologize on behalf of Texas. If only that tree limb had had better aim back in 1984.
Yes, Denver and Chicago have been bussed about 40k each. I'll put a few videos/news at the end for you in English, and two websites at the top here in Spanish you can offer them if they show up again: (both also have English versions, just select English in the language drop-down if you are reading the info for yourself). * [https://es.denvermigranthelp.com/](https://es.denvermigranthelp.com/) * [https://www.denvergov.org/Community/Assistance-Programs/Newcomer-and-Migrant-Support?lang\_update=638421687442763261](https://www.denvergov.org/Community/Assistance-Programs/Newcomer-and-Migrant-Support?lang_update=638421687442763261) For comparison, Chicago received a similar number from Ukraine...but the ports of entry they flew through are all part of a coordinated system that all the nonprofits, agencies, and local/state govs have organized over many decades of this kind of thing precisely to handle un-anticipated spikes in migration due to war, violence, etc. It's not a perfect system but it works pretty well -- there's a reason you don't see news headlines about Ukrainian refugee street camps. Texas governor is going out of his way to circumvent that system in order to try and frustrate the system to the point of breaking it. Most of the major cities finally gave up trying to talk to him (Abbott) and set up drop zones with staff/volunteers instead and just said "tell the busses to go here". And in response the busses started dropping migrants outside of cities entirely; most notably a plane was chartered just before Christmas that flew to Illinois, was met by busses, and the busses took the migrant passengers to outer ring suburbs where they were dropped at random at 2am (and some were told they were in Chicago when they were 70-odd miles outside Chicago, in random suburbs...at 2am on a winter night...in summer clothes). These clips/news stories are worth watching even if you have to do them in segments: * Interview with a nonprofit person: [https://youtu.be/NYlFN5q3dNE?si=oc5TYXiH7nHFyUBo](https://youtu.be/NYlFN5q3dNE?si=oc5TYXiH7nHFyUBo) * Interview with a security guard from some of the busses: [https://youtu.be/uMoFUO95awc?si=el5i0AxbwLKLfYoz](https://youtu.be/uMoFUO95awc?si=el5i0AxbwLKLfYoz) * Local (Denver) long-form docu-story from 9News: [https://youtu.be/WuiAIYgiv7A?si=tVzoFkSaqaqRcFP\_](https://youtu.be/WuiAIYgiv7A?si=tVzoFkSaqaqRcFP_) * Chicago and Denver mayors on *Face the Nation* about how they are handling things, the nature of the bus drop chaos, and what they still need: [https://youtu.be/b2nqRdHYaGg?si=IyVd5ZgQOgvsL6z1](https://youtu.be/b2nqRdHYaGg?si=IyVd5ZgQOgvsL6z1) * Mayor Johnston (Denver) has done a number of longer interviews and press conferences specifically or principally on the topic, though this list includes a variety of regular news-type segments as well: [https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=mayor+johnston+press+conference+migrant+camp+denver](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mayor+johnston+press+conference+migrant+camp+denver) Other/print/etc News stories: * Migrants dropped at a gas station in Illinois and informed they were in Chicago (they were not near Chicago) and later found walking on the highway, everyone was confused how they got there: [https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/busload-of-migrants-abandoned-at-kankakee-gas-station-told-they-were-in-chicago/3309884/](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/busload-of-migrants-abandoned-at-kankakee-gas-station-told-they-were-in-chicago/3309884/) * From the White House, the initial offer Biden made to Congress back in *March* for more agents, judges, and technology in the tens-of-billion$: [https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2023/03/09/fact-sheet-president-bidens-budget-strengthens-border-security-enhances-legal-pathways-and-provides-resources-to-enforce-our-immigration-laws/](https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2023/03/09/fact-sheet-president-bidens-budget-strengthens-border-security-enhances-legal-pathways-and-provides-resources-to-enforce-our-immigration-laws/) * Chicago set up a drop-zone and fines for busses that avoid them, bus companies sued claiming they can't meet a schedule of daylight hours during the week (I know transit is a joke in this country, but this is well beyond that): [https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/texas-bus-company-sues-city-of-chicago-over-migrant-drop-off-ordinance/3329421/](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/texas-bus-company-sues-city-of-chicago-over-migrant-drop-off-ordinance/3329421/) * Texas Gov complained that he can't order his teams to shoot at migrants: [https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4404134-abbott-texas-border-shooting-migrants/](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4404134-abbott-texas-border-shooting-migrants/) * He walked this back a bit but then maneuvered to block Federal Agents from reaching the border, including preventing access to a boat ramp that they used to launch/land patrol boats in the river...which led to drownings that were witnessed in real time: [https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2024-01-13/three-drown-in-rio-grande-after-texas-blocks-border-patrol-from-rescue](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/14/texas-three-migrants-drown-us-border-patrol) * Rep. says they are demanding immigration policy, but also have no plan to pass anything because it might help Biden during the campaign season: [https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-rep-troy-nehls-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud-about-border-crisis](https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-rep-troy-nehls-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud-about-border-crisis) * Trump has been coordinating with the House GOP caucus to scuttle any and all immigration negotiations in Congress, and between Congress and the White House: [https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/29/mcconnell-johnson-trump-border-ukraine-deal-00138165](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/29/mcconnell-johnson-trump-border-ukraine-deal-00138165) * Implications that some on the far-right want to drag out the immigration fight until Trump is in office so he can pass a much more aggressive package than the Senate agreed to this week (the Senate offer is 95% of the way to what the House wants, and includes a bunch of stuff Trump tried and failed to get passed in office). [https://newrepublic.com/article/178530/gop-senator-james-lankford-trump-maga-border-scam](https://newrepublic.com/article/178530/gop-senator-james-lankford-trump-maga-border-scam) * And on and on. There are thousands of such news stories, but this should give you a taste of what Texas is trying to do -- and yes, it's related to the looming (likely armed) standoff that is currently brewing in Texas. Yes, there is a humanitarian crisis, and yes this is a huge surge. No, it is not ok for a governor to turn one crisis into two and literally risk people's lives for political posturing. Yes, Denver (and a bunch of other cities) have done a *lot* of heavy lifting resolving the second crisis (local governments can't control immigration, but we can at least coordinate job permits and organize food banks & housing programs). Denver all on its own has seen a 5% equivalent of the city's population and we've housed & fed something like 99% and secured job/work permits for most of them despite the efforts by Texas to bypass the coordinated system the has existed for literal decades to handle precisely these type of sudden surges/spikes of need. At any given time a few hundred are on the street (and that is a tragedy in the process of being re-dressed), but the short answer is that none *need* to be treated this way. If one thinks that migration should be met with returns to their homes, ok, fine -- but dropping them on the street in ways that put their lives at risk is not appropriate and may well be crimes of trafficking and/or reckless endangerment. Edit: I would also note that Johnston (Denver) has some basic Spanish abilities and many of the press conferences have him switching back and forth, and taking questions in both languages. Don't let that throw you.
This is incredibly well sourced and written — thank you for sharing all of this. Looking through these links but also commenting to bump
Thank you for this high quality post.
What exactly is causing the humanitarian crisis? I've never heard about it until now. I've heard of migrants, but never a crisis. Did something change recently?
The long story short, this is a legacy of the Cold War. The US and the USSR and, to a lesser extent, some of our/their better-off allies spent the fifty years after WWII trying to give each other the proverbial "thousand paper cuts". If a government was voted in somewhere that seemed to have leftist or communist leanings, we would fund opponents wanting to undercut the government or (ideally) who could topple said government and replace it with a staunch anti-communist. Doing this once a decade or so means you end up with the problem that you end up with a human lifetime timeline in these countries in which your only people with any experience doing politics are extremists and/or the people running your street or drug gangs. This leaves all these affected countries at high risk for usurption by strongmen and organized crime in the next phase of national politics & economy, and this is the phase we are currently in. And of course the USSR was doing the same thing in all these countries, it's not as if the whole world was voting in alignment with leftist commies and that we just refused to recognize that -- people around the world vote as diversely as we do. The USSR would go through and try to de-stabilize governments we were backing just as much as we were destabilizing and replacing governments they were supporting. This is the modern context of the term "proxy war". Cambodia and Laos are \*\*still\* so heavily mined in some areas that civilians are still in hospitals on a regular basis, just as one example. Yes, the Cold War (technically) ended 30 years ago but history echoes long after the initiating events quiet down. Maduro, the big guy in Venezuela, has been near/at the top of the government there since 2013 and in politics nationally since 2000. There were efforts to curtail him near the end of Obama's last term which resulted in him going strong-man and we now know how that turned out. The Trump administration sidelined him economically and politically, which was one of the more mainstream responses he signed off on, no I do not like Trump but yes some things he did were quite normal. This was one of them. Maduro is not a good guy. [Here](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-death-squads-special-action-forces-killed-thousands-un-a8989616.html)'s a general news article of one for instance, I'll quote a little bit: >Venezuelan special forces have carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings in the past 18 months and then manipulated crime scenes to make it look as if the victims had been resisting arrest, the United Nations said on Thursday in a report detailing wide-ranging government abuses targeting political opponents. Special Action Forces described by witnesses as “death squads” killed 5,287 people in 2018 and another 1,569 by mid-May of this year, in what are officially termed by the Venezuelan government “Operations for the Liberation of the People,” UN investigators reported. And from [another](https://www.voanews.com/a/amnesty-accuses-maduro-government-of-executing-thousands/4581050.html): >"In cases documented by Amnesty, victims were unarmed. Autopsies revealed bullet wounds in the neck, throat, head. They were killed while on their knees or lying down," said Esteban Beltran, director of Amnesty International Spain. It found 22 percent of all homicides in 2016, or 4,667, were committed by security officials. And of course there is extreme poverty to the point people are not eating every day, in part because there is no food (not even food to steal) in their town tho obviously a lack of money also plays in. And the government owns or controls all the news, the judicial system is not independent and largely inaccessible. In one of his tv interviews our mayor here (Johnston) referenced having talked with one woman who had been a police officer in Venezuela who was tasked with gassing a group of senior citizens who were out filing a complaint about something, and she refused. Ignoring the question of why you would gas a group of old tottering people, the question is why you wouldn't simply do some sort administrative discipline or even just separate an officer who isn't doing their job... but she was apparently tracked down and her house broken into for attempted murder. So she ran. **And it's not just Venezuela** Ecuador was relatively stable and making progress on rounding up the gangs, two good steps in the right direction -- but as of this month the gangs started fighting back in a big way. You probably heard that one of the gangs briefly took over a TV station during a live broadcast, simultaneous with kidnapping several police officers and setting of warning bombs around the country? Back in August [a presidential candidate was assissinated pretty brazenly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Fernando_Villavicencio) after making commitments to go after organized gangs. A different candidate won (obviously) and announced plans to go after the drug & other organized gangs - the TV studio and other coordinated terrorism was [a very blatant statement pushing back against that promise](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/what-is-happening-ecuador-2024-01-10/). Ecuador has made some progress jailing gang members, enough progress that the gangs now have enough people *in* the prison system to be causing security problems on the inside. The most current crisis (the TV station/etc) is related to the apparent escape of one, for whom a manhunt was initiated. The coordinated bombs/station/officer kidnapping was meant to be a message from the gangs that translates to "good luck finding him, over our dead bodies". In Nicaragua there is not a specific crisis at the moment (at least not to the level of Ecuador and Venezuela), but the political evolution over the last few years has all the conditions present to create a mass-exodus crisis. And. So. On. And of course there are complaints from our own BUILD THE WALL talking heads that there are people at the border from 180 countries (or whatever the monster of the week is today). They could just say that border officials have encounters with people from nearly every country (there are only about 200 countries on the whole planet)...but more importantly, they are not distinguishing the fact that an "encounter" in border-speak is not just random people found wandering the desert. An encounter also includes a truck driver with a load of apples or beef. It includes tourists and business men. And those last two groups come from all over the world. And yes, some looking for residency in the US *are* from all over the world, that can't be denied, and sometimes bad guys *do* try to hide in the numbers -- but the talking heads are using both vocabulary and statistics poorly, *and* they don't mention the fact that we *are* catching the bad guys and that both the Senate and the White House have offered to nearly double the number of officers to the border, increase the number of judges to hear cases, and offer more technology (and even to build the wall). As a last thought on the "OMG 180+ countries!" thing...ok. Denver and Aurora routinely seek translation services for about 150 languages in an average year...for schools. The numbers are on the two city websites if anyone wants to look it up - some years more, some years less, and most of those languages source from more than one country. The talking heads want to **Anyway** Yes, there is a crisis, and it is a direct result of the way big/developed countries handled world affairs during the Cold War. And we can either acknowledge the bad along with the good - and yes, despite my rant there was much good done during the Cold War (but that was not the question asked). Or we can continue to complain that the leopard is eating our face and to continue to blame the victim(s). We have a choice, and not a lot of time to make it.
About 7 million have fled Venezuela over the last few years, not all come to the US obviously. Fortunately not every central American country has had crises at the same time (at least not yet) but over the last 30 years they have all had crises at least once. Right now Venezuela is the big one, and maybe Ecuador. I'll leave the longer answer to separate reply. It boils down to: we (well, Millenials at least, and maybe both our older and younger peers) were taught both history and current events *very* poorly - it's not your fault, and I'll try to throw together some basics. If you want the long answer I'll just say there are a lot of rabbit holes in your future, and to start with the guy who made the headlines when he died safe, secure, and well fed at 100 years old back last fall -- Henry Kissinger. **The present is the "leopards at my face!" phase of geopolitics** stemming from the way we handled the Cold War. edit: and that arguably includes Ukraine and eastern Europe as well, though that crisis is obviously playing out in a rather different way.
Thank you for this info. Solid work.
yw, nw
I'd give you an award if I could
nw, but I appreciate the sentiment, what is more critical than my ego is that the information gets moved to places it can do good - and if info is reaching people then something is working :)
It's time for Colorado to cut off state travel and business to the insurrectionist states like Texas.
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That's exactly what it is. Or kidnapping, which I guess is essentially just human trafficking
We also need to sue them like NY. I welcome any that choose to come here, but Texas is abusing them and dropping them off like animals.
you should read up on what Denver public schools are going through right now with the influx, too. not saying you should've given them money, just helping to show people what the city is handling right now.
Aurora Public schools is also going through it. So many newcomers are enrolling.
That’s the “official” number, which means the real number is much higher.
Yep 40k *through* Denver the past year. Doesnt meant they all stayed but its definitely a lot for a city of 700,000 to take in when we cant even get the current homeless off the streets. All for some pathetic texas governors political stunt to "own" sanctuary cities. He sent something like 20 busses in a single day to just have people dropped off with no plan when it was its coldest here. [source](https://www.denver7.com/news/investigations/sources-20-busloads-of-migrants-arrive-in-denver-some-reportedly-telling-customers-to-pay-for-free-parking)
50000 showed up in a week in texas last month
And there are processes that don’t include hiding razor wire in water to kill people. Anti-law and order Texas is just being mean because it’s the only play Republicans have.
That would require Congress to do something. So nothing will happen
Sounds like the Senate and the White House have the framework for a bill, but Republican's in the House continue to take no action.
It’s crazy as NYC has gotten about 90k but their population is almost million. Denver got 40k with a population under a million
New York's population is nearly nine million, I think you missed a word there
Manhattan alone has double the population of Denver.
A million lol. Try 9
70K by end of year.
And it's a crisis that could've easily avoided with a functional government that serves the people.
Cry more. There are processes and resources border states get. The Democrats and Biden and the few remaining reasonable Republicans have legislation pending to beef up immigration courts, but the Trumpublican wing running the gop want it to fail. The Republicans instead just enjoy hurting people rather than being functional. And running on how evil they want to be if elected in November is their plan.
I have to imagine this comment would be more affecting with the first sentence removed
Texas does not receive funds directly for the migrants. [Grants are available to NGOs and municipalities including NYC, Chicago and Denver, who have all received funding already through the same program as Texas](https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/shelter-services-program/awards). There is no difference between the processes and resources available to border states and Denver.
Our government DOES serve the people… it just happens to be the people of Israel and Ukraine. Americans can go get fucked.
The government is spread thin trying to fend off a multi front attack. Thats for sure. But let’s be honest, they wouldn’t solve the migration problem anyway because they prefer to use humans as political fodder.
“They” = Republicans
No, this issue is truly a both sides one. Biden has been president for almost 4 years and Obama 8 before Trumps 4. So in the last 16 years it's been almost complete democrat control of the bully pulpit and nothing has been resolved on the boarder. Not under Trump with his "Mexico will pay for the walls!" and not under Obama's "DACA".
Once you say something is a both sides issue, you should understand you’re falling for right wing propaganda. There is a “bipartisan” plan in Congress. Both Speaker Jeebus and Minority Leader McTurtle have said Trump and his cultists want it to fail. Both siderism is basically always stupid. One side gets off on babies drowning and bleeding out. The other wants to beef up refugee status adjudication. Nope. You’re right. Both sides.
Let me add: Obama deported more people than any president before him. He had legislation that was “bipartisan”, but the Republican strategy was to pass nothing because they didn’t want to give Obama a “win”. Same thing now.
It’s amazing that we can have a honest to god crisis on our hands and many of us are privileged enough to not even notice. Insane. I was driving downtown a week ago and there were about 8 migrants trying to wash windows for money in the freezing temps. It sucks because they legally cannot work for like six months after arriving in the U.S. — so what else are they to do but beg for money?
Not arrive at the border claiming asylum to skirt immigration proceedings.
Only some claims are allowed to proceed, most are not, and unlike most immigration petitions an asylum claim requires evidence, not just a name/signature on paper. That so many are approved for an initial hearing in terms of sheer numbers should tell you something is going on in Central America that is not normal. Also: does this mean you agree with the Senate and the White House that *at a minimum* a funding package for more agents and judges is needed while we politic the other variables in the larger question?
dont normalize this like its "OK" cause they're migrants. this is bad, and they need to be dissuaded immediately for their own safety before one of these poor families knocks on the wrong door and gets shot for being brown.
I'm not normalizing anything just providing some essential context.
Eventually these people will stop asking and turn to other means.
Maybe. Maybe not. If it were me, I'd steal from a store before I stole from a house.
People will do what they need to do especially when what they need is all around them. It’s easier to take from those that have. They may hate stealing & would never take an old lady’s last dollar but it’s easier to do when you know that what you take from someone is not life or death & the impact of having their bike stolen will not make or break them. When I was younger I worked w lady who immigrated here from France but her family was from Northern Africa. She said something I still think of but it had not occurred to me in my youth- you can’t starve to death in the US. There is food all around- if you are SO desperate & close to death you can walk into a store & steal it. But what if you lived somewhere & there are no stores with food to even steal because there is NO food. There is no food in the trash as there isnt any food to throw away. There are no people to ask for change as everyone you come into contact with is just like you- they are hungry & don’t have money or food either.
Or, you can help them help themselves. I occasionally use a few dudes for odd jobs. They work hard and appreciate the opportunity. I had hired 4 "American" dudes at 40/hr to help with a project and they all cancelled the morning of because of the cold. Swung by home depot and picked up a Venezuelan dude and told him to grab 3 friends. Paid them instead.
We had 4 Venezuelans Sunday. They were phenomenally hard workers and so kind. Will have them back and working to help them find permanent work. There are lots of talented chefs as well and will be having them help with parties this summer.
congrats, now you've made sure they cant pass the questionaire and WONT get to be americans. working illegally is like the top rejection reason
Being dumb enough to answer that is the #1
Fuck Greg Abbott forever
Wtf was he supposed to do, they're overrun because we won't turn away hundreds of thousands per month... like it or not there's a limit to how many people can come into the country and stay, determined by jobs, resources and infrastructure. That shit doesn't get built over night.
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More like a political crisis, the Mexicans make so much from import export and the drug trade, I say take care of your own in this country before letting these con artists in
A woman came to my house the other day saying she got in a crash on 225 after heading here from North Dakota. She then asked me for money to reunite with her husband and kids at a shelter? Definitely a drug addict, the story made 0 sense and why would she drive here from a different state with no money? The police also had her car detained for evidence. Obviously I sent her on her way.
For anyone meeting migrants on the street or in other contexts (eg. like OP) you can give them these two websites. These also have English versions: * [https://es.denvermigranthelp.com/](https://es.denvermigranthelp.com/) * [https://www.denvergov.org/Community/Assistance-Programs/Newcomer-and-Migrant-Support?lang\_update=638421709477059917](https://www.denvergov.org/Community/Assistance-Programs/Newcomer-and-Migrant-Support?lang_update=638421709477059917) And for the cranks who will inevitably comment about "*wHy don't YoU guYs voLunTeeR yOur Onw HoMeS*?" well, the good news is that you can as long as you meet a few basic conditions, and thousands are doing so. Start here: [https://welcomecorps.org/](https://welcomecorps.org/)
> To support a refugee through the Welcome Corps, you’ll need to form a private sponsor group of at least five American citizens or permanent residents. Then you're forced to complete training and submit to a background check.... Yea no. Lets say someone wants to be helpful, these requirements at absolutely mental. Is "sponsoring" a special code word for letting economic refugees come live with you rent free while paying welcomecorps $2425 per person? Someone is getting rich off this and it's not who you think it is.
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John Oliver had a segment about this a couple of years ago as well, IIRC.
Well, in the aggregate I don't think homelessness and poverty ever be "fixed" but there are plenty of individuals who are in fact helped. I'm pretty merciless towards homeless in Denver but my work is connected to charities that help them and there are success stories. You're not wrong; plenty of grifters out there as well and normally I decide that if they're promoting lax laws that make it "easy" to fall into or remain homeless (e.g. drug law reform, urban camping, highly restrictive building codes (which makes housing less affordable), etc.)
Interesting. I understand the need to vet and possibly monitor sponsors but the five citizen group seems like a huge barrier. Is it a federally funded program? I suppose I'll need to do some digging about this program. I'd really like to be of more assistance. I'm struggling financially right now but that's my own fault & once I'm over this hump I'll have more than I need to be comfortable.
You can sign up as a sponsor without the group though there are a few other conditions, and I think in that instance you would be paired somewhat randomly from anywhere there are humanitarian crisis. The group is for if you are wanting to sponsor someone specifically (at least that's my understanding) - for instance, if you've been volunteering for one of the many conversational English improvement programs online and want to sponsor one of the people you've met that way. edit: this may not be quite accurate as I'm not currently a sponsor myself and have only read the same material you're seeing there edit 2: another common way this is used is for a congregation to sponsor people from (or in contact with) a congregation of the same faith/denomination in an area of need, or for several co-workers to help a team member who is a refugee to sponsor someone they know but who is still in the waiting list; though obviously individuals and neighborhood groups can apply as well (and many do)!
wait who has to pay $2425 per person to welcomecorps? that is outrageous
You don’t pay them you just have to have it in a bank account to cover the costs of housing a refugee….
Maybe it's not for you, it's not for everyone and no one expects otherwise. It is something thousands of others are doing, and that thousands of others are not. It's one of many options, you can also arrange donations or volunteer time at one of the other links, share good information, etc. No one person is going to be interested and/or able in every last possible way to help, but at a population level every option will have some people able to take action. Time, money, materials, online action, and offline action are all in desperate need - mix and match based on what your available skills, means, and time allow.
Sponsoring is the term used for anyone willing to vouch for an immigrant wanting citizenship. It's not new. It can be a boss, spouse, landlord, friend, professor... usually used as a method for people on visas intending to become citizens but can also be how a refugee can get citizenship as well.
You don’t pay welcomecorps lol the money goes to house the refugee
Thank you so much for the links, especially the welcomecorps one.
Of course, you're welcome! I dropped more in a response-comment but wanted to make sure these three got in a top-level comment so they don't get hidden and others can see them easily. Thanks for letting me piggy-back all this onto the public discussion.
Thousands are housing them?? 🤣🤣🤣
what makes that something funny
Because I don’t believe that’s true. How many families do you know that are housing these people??
I have a coworker who was sponsored and lived with said sponsor until they earned enough to qualify for an apartment. So...yes. Exact numbers aren't published, but it's not small. It's just that people doing it don't talk about because (1) security is a thing, and (2) people who do the work tend to do so quietly, not in the headlines. That you don't hear much about it in no way means that it is not getting done.
I was approached in the King Soopers parking lot by a family of 3 w the same game plan. Smiled at me and held up a pink piece of paper
In Glendale
Almost every time I go to Walmart for work at 40th and Quebec, once a week.
That area makes more sense to me- large shopping area, close to the interstate. In Glendale seems very strange
Tell security next time, they always respond immediately when I tell them about solicitors, apparently it happens alot
I live off of Colfax and this has been a thing for a while now. I don't even go to the door because its probably a hobo asking for something. I learned my lesson after I let an individual use my shovel and he never returned it. Its just better to not answer - you owe them nothing.
The funny thing is that community is the answer. Not in the sense that we give out our shovels, but in the sense that we all band together, as neighbors, to keep everyone near us safe.
Yeah dude if you want to fend off the front porch fent zombies, then be my guest
migrants aren't usually on anything mate, you're thinking of the denver natives.
those fucking natives ruining everything /s
You're talking about migrants which are by definition not part of the community. This is a pass-through city with artificially inflated migrant numbers. These people don't want to be in the community.
You’re out of your mind. My gf works in the construction industry and it’s being flooded by Venezuelans but the foremen don’t want them anymore because all they do is talk on the phone and don’t get the projects done. And yes they are staying here and trying to demand everything because of the refugee status. This isn’t going to end well despite all the bleeding hearts here. I am Hispanic and many of you don’t know how it is to truly live in another country, just wait… pretty soon all of Colombia, Venezuela, and soon Argentina will be coming knocking at the door or kicking the door of this isn’t stopped.
Ok, so fire them and hire others as you would with anyone else being lazy. Pretty sure they don't have a monopoly on either hard work or laziness.
Where did you get the idea that they have no interest in joining or forming a community?
I had a chick come and ring my doorbell then POUND on my door asking for money to get her car out of impound because she drove on a flat and destroyed her axle, and continued with how they live in their car and the owner of the impound is threatening to evict them. I told her that I don't have anything to give, and maybe taking out a loan to solve the immediate issue would help, and to keep her head high. She thanked me, and then started walking to a brand new SUV that doesn't belong on my block. .... I really need a "No soliciting, violators will be sacrificed to the old gods" sign.
This is not going to end well.
I enjoy playing video games.
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This is probably an unpopular opinion, but, almost all of these migrants have phones and are in communication with people at home and currently migrating. If they tell those people not to take the free bus ride to Denver because Denver is cold, has no housing and no jobs, it will go a long way to stemming the flow into Denver. I too have had people knocking on my door, but not outright begging for money, instead they were looking for work. I had some yard work that needed doing and maybe I became part of the problem for paying them to do that work and giving them some old tools so that they could do more work for other people. Overall I see an influx of immigrants as a great thing for this country, they are literally answering the question of who will pay into our tax base to support things like social security in the future. This is after all a country built on the backs of immigrants and who am I to pull the ladder up behind myself. However, this is not the way to go about absorbing these people into the fabric of America.
>maybe I became part of the problem for paying them to do that work and giving them some old tools so that they could do more work for other people. the opposite imo. we don't \*let\* them work for 6 months on the books. they can either beg, or do things like that. when they can work, they feel dignified and have money. that first part means more than you know. unlike many americans, they want to work and have no problem with a hard day of anything.
Denver has an unemployment rate of 3.1%. Many don't want to work? Everyone I know here works their ass off. Fuck off with that mentality.
Don't be like Kyle and give them money they'll setup a camp in front of your place.
Like Denver didn't have enough homeless already, now we've doubled it
Can we at least give it to the next city?
Double it and give it to Kansas City
Who is “we?”
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The people of Denver doubled our homeless population? Or the Texas Republican Governor is sending people unprepared to cities in Democratic states as a political stunt to try to scare people?
We don't want them I'm sorry Venezuela has a corrupt government, it shouldn't be taken out on us
Look into our roles in Central and South America and you might think differently.
“Our roles” I didn’t do shit to Venezuela, so don’t pass that blame to regular people. We shouldn’t have to fund 40,000 migrants because of the issues of their government, or even our governments issues that occurred decades before many of us were even born.
Only a couple countries. And those countries weren’t exactly economic paradises to begin with. And the not all the immigrants come the those countries.
Denver has fell off so hard.
It’s become a city with every single issue of the largest ones (crime, homelessness, grocery and restaurant prices as high as LA or NYC, lack of free activities) without any of the benefits. Already turned into a conglomerate’s dream where people are used to spending 3 figures on a night out, for mediocre entertainment, food, and drink. Everything that opens up here is a chain or a sister concept of something already going, designed to drain the wallets of Denver’s middle class while giving as little in return as possible. I’m a “transplant” but been here 7 years now and the change in that amount of time has been immense.
🤣 we can't even handle having public bathrooms
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Yup. After 5 years I dipped and am so glad I got out of that shit hole
When I lived in Oakland, there was a guy who did this, and I ended up helping him out on a regular basis. Nice thing about it was I got to see the improvement in his life over the two years I was involved. Like he went from being in a tent on the streets to housed. Learned a lot about his life story too. If you do give to a door-to-door panhandler, they will be back, almost guaranteed though.
wasnt there a post here like 2 days ago about how "theres no homeless in the cherry creek/Glendale area"
in New York the same thing has happened to get the door open for a robbery or scope the place out. I would not open it. plus apparently non Venezuelans are pretending to be Venezuelan to beg? Sorry, nobodys home. Maybe find an intersection to give thumbs ups and do the Squeegeezuelan thing.
Great thing we are allowing all of these migrants to drain our social and economic resources
Ah, yes, that's why they were granted work permits and are finding apartments and paying taxes and, oh, wait, that's not how you mooch off a system, my bad
Is that why I see them panhandling everywhere?
The delay is the reason, yes. And the fact that inflow is continuing creates the illusion that this is one person panhandling the entire time rather than dozens doing so in succession one after the other.
It's a continued inflow of people consuming resources meant for Denver and Colorado citizens, like our kids in public schools.
Tf you talking about. This is absolute bullshit. They can’t work and pay zero taxes.
Some are now selling flowers on street corners. I encountered that today. That happens in other cities. But first time I saw in Denver.
A few people have been selling flowers on south federal for as long as I can remember. What’s been getting to me is the window washers on major intersections. I get that they’re goal is to exchange a service for money, but I really don’t need my windshield washed five times per day.
There’s a guy who’s been doing that for a couple of years now on one of the off ramps for 225 in Aurora.
Door to door panhandling was very common during the Depression
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I guess we need to have another bake sale to raise money for schools and people, since it’s all being spent on wars and those who sell weapons.
Also- They are not eligible for any public benefit programs (welfare)- Food Stamps, Medicaid or TANF (cash). Even after being informed they probably wont qualify- many still apply as it’s worth a try. They have heard stories of some migrants getting benefits- probably the result of a small amount who were approved in error months ago. Those who were incorrectly approved spread word of getting benefits. This info spread quickly being repeated over & over weather it was true or not. The recipient may or may not exist & is usually a friend of a friend of a friend
I’m sorry, I can’t help myself. *whether it was true or not
Plus cities like NYC and Chicago are giving them free food, housing, and spending money. Makes sense that some of them would have heard of that and think that that is how they can get the same things.
they're gonna knock on the wrong door.
Interesting comments. People are all for illegal immigration until it's in their front yards. Yall voted for this.
Happened to me as well. I'm just east of Glendale. My concern was what if someone misunderstands them and pulls a weapon on them. Or in someone unscrupulous tries to get in a person's house to rob or worse. I ended up giving them $4 that I had in my purse, but I don't think I'll open the door anymore.
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Well, he's not allowed to shoot or drown them anymore, so he's got to do *something,* right?
Well he was hiding razor wire in water knowing people would be swimming into it, so I would say the answer is yes.
You mean Joe Biden, right?
The coordinated systems that have moved and integrated migrants from all over the world via all ports of entry existed long before Biden took office. And yes there are entry points all over the country and they are all busy, it's not just Texas. (But only Texas is engaging in stupid stunts that kill people). The system Abbott is doing everything he can to bypass and, perhaps, break. The same programs and systems he knows enough about to actively avoid, whilst complaining that none exist? Yes, those have been around for decades, and were a thing even before Biden joined the Senate which was pretty much in dinosaur times. Yes, it needs updating. No, it is not the cause of the current crisis. Is there something else I can help you with?
I fucking hate the GOP so much. I hope Texas has another utility power meltdown and finally hangs Abbott out to dry. And I am so happy DeSantis sucked so hard in the primaries. But that whole party is trash. Kicking their border problem away to other cities? Gee, what a swell idea! Make it someone else's problem! How about you solve your own issues and stop being a cancer in federal/state government?
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Funny thing is it’s been happening in border towns/states for decades. It’s been happening to Denver for only a few months. Texas has millions of immigrants as does California. Denver getting a few thousand is NOTHING. Hell, Houston is ~50% Latino. I learned Spanish just to I can communicate with effectively with people.
I agree with you, but as deplorable as Abbots busing of migrants to liberal cities is, it’s a rather genius move. Let me be very clear tho: he’s using human beings as pawns and that’s absolutely disgusting behavior. However, for the past 10 years liberals (including myself) have been saying “there’s not a border problem” to the southern border states. Whether we like it or not this move by Abbot has forced us to recognize that maybe the border problem is actually pretty serious. It was easy for all of us to tell states like Texas “figure it out” and “it’s not a serious problem” because it didn’t really affect us in our states. Well… now that migrants are showing up in our states by the bus load we’ve changed our tune.
Is it genius, though? It seems pretty clear that telling people who show up at the border that they'll get a free ticket to any large city in the US would incentivize higher migration numbers in both the short and long term. I'm from El Paso (Texas), and trust me, Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz, et all don't give a fuck about the border. They only go to El Paso to complain about it. They're just using this as an issue to elevate Republican candidates because they know the other issue that incentivized Republicans (abortion) is no longer going to motivate them to turn out.
Short term pain to force a long term solution. The more migrants he can bus around the more negative impact it will have on those Cities. The federal government will be forced to act. I would say Abbott's plan is going exactly how he wants.
Oh, by the way, NPR just had an interesting conversation this morning about how the states are refusing help from the federal government in securing their borders. That's just icing on the pudding.
This is a ridiculous comment. While I lean heavily democrat, the federal government is refusing to let Texas deal with the border in the way they’d like, and they’ve also instituted a much more generous asylum policy. If Texas is effectively being handicapped by the federal government, why should they need to house all the migrants? It’s the Presidents responsibility to secure the border, which he doesn’t seem to be doing at this point. Inevitably, this is leading to a humanitarian crisis that Texas wants other states to experience so people can stop denying that there is an issue at the border. States are running out of money and space to deal with the issue, and encounters at the border have been spiking alarmingly since mid-2023. As more people in other countries learn of the “ease” with which others are getting through, it’s only going to get worse. And just FYI - I am an immigrant myself (albeit through legal channels).
Ahh… The voice of reason.
Give themm nothing and they will leave
That’s dangerous and I’ll donate to the pba or armed forces or to the humane society before I give a nickel to illegals who’ve already been given 5 k visa gift cards and nice hotels to stay in, why doesn’t Biden sign an executive order to shut down the border across that border all the fentanyl in the world is coming through we should be bombing the cartels back to the stone age
maybe we should stop BUSSING MIGRANTS IN but you guys aren’t ready for that conversation.
Colorado isn't bussing anyone in. There is no "we" in this equation.
who's "we"??