Editor’s note: Welcome to Border Crossroads, a series of dispatches from America’s southern border, where reporter Nico Brambila and multimedia producer Tom Hellauer are chronicling the crisis that is spilling over into Denver and other interior cities.
EL PASO, TEXAS — From an overlook at 4,200 feet on the southern tip of the Franklin Mountains in west Texas, the city of El Paso and Mexico’s Ciudad Juárez appear as one sprawling metropolis.
The Rio Grande — or the Río Bravo as it’s called in Mexico — is a natural boundary that doesn’t just cut between these two cities and their dissimilar realities but also divides the North and South. In El Paso, large coils of barbed wire — placed along the Rio Grande by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — mar the river bank and serve as a poignant reminder of the practical and political stakes over illegal immigration and securing the nation’s border.
The Rio Grande River separates much of the Texas and Mexico border and has become more militarized in recent years under the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, including the installation and maintenance of barbed wire obstacles as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Tom Hellauer/Denver Gazette
The Rio Grande River separates much of the Texas and Mexico border and has become more militarized in recent years under the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, including the installation and maintenance of barbed wire obstacles as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Despite the roughly 600 miles that separate Denver and El Paso, the humanitarian crisis unfolding there can also be felt here.
Both cities over the past 14 months have nearly buckled under the strain of tens of thousands of immigrants — mostly from South and Central America — who have illegally crossed the border into the United States.
Both are grappling with ongoing and unpredictable influxes.
Both are wading into the waters of a deep political divide, evolving community dynamics and the hunt for federal aid.
But, in many ways, that is where the similarities end.
That is because, in much the same way as the Star on the Mountain — an El Paso skyline feature — shines like a beacon over Juárez, the border city serves as a guidepost for the weary travelers, many of whom have fled violence and economic uncertainty in their home countries, and hope to secure a better life in the U.S.
El Paso is just another stop.
By comparison, Denver is more of a destination.
Indeed, immigrants may be pouring into El Paso but they do not often stay. Fewer than 5% — El Paso city and county officials have said — intend to make it their home.
‘They’re afraid to stay here’
It is unknown where the immigrants in Denver may have crossed the border, but given the city’s proximity to El Paso, many — if not most — likely came through the Pass of the North.
About three in 10 will head to Denver, said Irene Gutiérrez, executive director of El Paso County Community Services.
“They don’t want to be here,” Gutiérrez said. “The closer they are to the border, they think it’s easier for CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) or ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to deport them.
“They’re afraid to stay here.”
An ICE agent escorts a group of men being deported back across a bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
Tom Hellauer/Denver Gazette
An ICE agent escorts a group of men being deported back across a bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
Some 600 miles away, in America’s heartland, Denver greets immigrants with a welcoming spirit — as a city policy. Known as a “sanctuary city,” Denver’s elected leaders several years ago passed an ordinance that prohibits “city employees from collecting information on immigration or citizenship status; prohibits the sharing of any other information about individuals for purposes of immigration enforcement; and memorializes predominant practices by prohibiting use of city resources or city cooperation with civil immigration enforcement.”
To be sure, not all those coming to Denver intend to stay here, either. But a substantial number do.
Although the city isn’t tracking where these new arrivals wind up, the number of plane, train and bus tickets Denver officials have purchased offers some clues. About half — or roughly 19,000 of the more than 38,000 immigrant arrivals over the past 14 months — have sought free transportation to their final destination, said Jon Ewing, a spokesperson for Denver Human Services, which is managing the humanitarian response.
This suggests that about half of those coming have stayed, which has had huge implications for Denver.
Because officials decided early in the crisis that Denver would pay to temporarily shelter and transport immigrants to the city of their choice, their arrival in Denver has put additional stressors on a city already wrestling with a homeless challenge.
The city and county of El Paso provide what amounts to a short-term shelter stay. Not so in Denver, where city officials have housed immigrants for weeks, even months, because of freezing temperatures.
Denver imposed length-of-stay caps to ensure enough shelter space for new arrivals, who have no immediate ability to legally obtain work, which means they rely on nonprofits or local governments for shelter.
‘We’re building the capacity’
In El Paso, the shelter stays are truncated.
John Martin is the executive director of the Opportunity Center for the Homeless in El Paso, Texas and has helped operate a shelter since before the first large waves of Venezuelan immigrants began their journeys to the United States in 2022.
Tom Hellauer/Denver Gazette
John Martin is the executive director of the Opportunity Center for the Homeless in El Paso, Texas and has helped operate a shelter since before the first large waves of Venezuelan immigrants began their journeys to the United States in 2022.
“So, there’s always some exceptions, but the average stay is about two to three days,” said John Martin, executive director of The Opportunity Center for the Homeless, which is among the network of nonprofit organizations tasked with the response in El Paso.
By comparison, immigrant families in Denver can stay in a city shelter for up to 37 days. Single immigrant adults can stay for two weeks.
Even with the lengthier stay, the problem quickly spilled over onto the city’s streets.
As Denver officials made shelter discharges with each wave of new arrivals, encampments began cropping up, the largest on Zuni Street with about 300 homeless immigrants.
The Zuni encampment had been a fixture for months until Denver officials dismantled roughly 150 tents shortly after New Year’s Day.
El Paso, too, has had immigrants living on the street. But for much shorter stretches.
At its peak, about 800 immigrants were sleeping in “lean-to” tents erected in an alley behind The Opportunity Center on Myrtle Avenue, Martin said. Another 2,500 immigrants were estimated to be living on the street near Sacred Heart Church in the weeks leading up to the end of Title 42 in May.
Title 42 was the Trump-era policy of quickly expelling immigrants at the border to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
So, while Denver had homeless immigrants for months, El Paso saw immigrants living on the street for about two weeks, Martin said.
Officials recognized the situation’s public health and safety implications.
FILE PHOTO: Immigrants pack up their belongings during an encampment sweep at West 27th Avenue, between Zuni and Alcott Streets on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Denver, Colo. (Timothy Hurst/Denver Gazette)
Timothy Hurst/Denver Gazette
FILE PHOTO: Immigrants pack up their belongings during an encampment sweep at West 27th Avenue, between Zuni and Alcott Streets on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Denver, Colo. (Timothy Hurst/Denver Gazette)
Timothy Hurst/Denver Gazette
As of Tuesday, Denver sheltered 3,709 immigrants. The surge in arriving immigrants has come in waves, with a steady climb that began in November and peaked to roughly 5,200 people one day early last month. The city saw a similar surge in January 2023, but this most recent influx more than doubled last year’s high.
In sharp contrast, the El Paso Office of Emergency Management hasn’t had to shelter any immigrants since mid-January, the city’s dashboard shows.
The city of El Paso props up its facilities when a surge threatens to overwhelm the capacity of local shelters, officials said.
“We’re building the capacity,” said Gutierrez with El Paso County Community Services. “We propped up the NGOs (non-governmental organizations).
“It’s way cheaper than having county staff.”
‘We haven’t had to burden taxpayers’
Here in Denver, the city has assumed this ongoing responsibility.
The number of sheltered immigrants in Denver has been slowly dropping since hitting more than 4,600 early last month, city data shows.
Denver officials have been reticent to say what the city’s shelter capacity is.
But Ewing has said 4,500-to-5,000 sheltered immigrants represents “the inn” being about full.
These shelter stays have significantly contributed to the more than $42 million — and counting — that Denver has paid to respond to the influx. With just $14.1 million of that in state and federal reimbursements, Denver taxpayers are shouldering the bulk of the cost.
FILE VIDEO: Officials with Denver last month started the process of moving hundreds of recently-arrived Central and South American immigrants into various shelters, apartments and other locations. The camp, stationed outside a temporary shelter, had ballooned by hundreds in recent months following the arrival of more immigrants to the area.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who is looking to trim the current budget by at least 10%, has warned that spending on the immigrant response could reach up to $180 million this year.
This Monday alone, Denver’s councilmembers expanded what originally was a roughly $400,000 contract to provide shelter for newly-arrived immigrants to up to $25 million, another sign of the crisis that has placed the city under tremendous fiscal strain.
Taxpayers in El Paso, on the other hand, have been largely spared.
Last quarter, El Paso was reimbursed by the federal government for all the city’s expenses except $1.5 million, said Mario D’Agostino, El Paso deputy city manager.
“Luckily, up to this point, we haven’t had to burden (county) taxpayers,” said El Paso County Commissioner David Stout.
For months, Denver officials have pressed the White House and Colorado’s congressional delegation to find more federal money for the humanitarian response.
It’s unclear what exactly, if any, Colorado’s representatives accomplished for Denver, specifically, or Colorado. Last May, U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper pressed U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for money, asking the Biden official to “rapidly respond” to current funding applications.
Last month, Hickenlooper and Bennet, along with U.S. Reps. Jason Crow and Brittany Pettersen, joined Johnston in a news conference once more to press for federal action.
When asked if there’s anything concrete and specific that they have accomplished for Denver, Bennet’s office replied that it would know more when the text of the proposed border deal in the U.S. Senate is unveiled. Hickenlooper’s office pointed to a letter he and Bennet sent to Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas nine month ago, in which they urged the Biden official to expedite the release of funds to Colorado and Denver. The office also noted letters or legislation the senator advocated to simplify the hiring of international talent, reconsider plans to increase fees that businesses pay for non-immigrant work visas, and eliminate caps on employment visa. None of the latter measures directly deals with the immigration crisis that Denver faces.
El Paso has pressed for funding, too, but with greater success.
Once in Denver’s position hustling for federal dollars, El Paso leaders said it’s important for leaders of Colorado’s most populous city to continue pushing for more funding.
Mario D'Agostino speaks to press about immigration funding at El Paso City Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.
Tom Hellauer/Denver Gazette
Mario D’Agostino speaks to press about immigration funding at El Paso City Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.
“Keep up with those requests for your community,” D’Agostino said.
He added: “Don’t give up. It didn’t look like we were going to get there, but we didn’t stop.”
And now, as Denver struggles to be reimbursed for its costs, El Paso is receiving federal funding up front.
Not all crises are felt the same.
In the months since about 90 immigrants were dropped off at Union Station downtown in December 2022, and left to wander in the cold, Denver has welcomed more than 38,000 immigrants.
That pales in comparison to the more than 364,000 encounters CBP had last fiscal year in the El Paso sector, which stretches 264 miles from Fort Hancock, Texas to Lordsburg, New Mexico.
While the crisis has led both cities to issue emergency declarations, El Paso’s nonprofit organizations — many of which have provided immigrant services for decades — appear better equipped to respond over the long-haul.
The reason?
“We have a ton of shelters dedicated to migrant support,” Gutierrez said.
Immigrants probe areas of recently-installed barbed wire while members of the Texas National Guard watch from a truck on the northern bank of the Rio Grande between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants hoping to enter the United States wait in a staging area on the northern bank of the Rio Grande river just south of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Most sections of the border wall are built slightly north of the actual border on the U.S. side so Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security agents can perform maintenance on the structure. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A woman and young child await more members of their traveling party on the northern bank of the Rio Grande between the United States and Mexico borders just south of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A group of immigrant prepare to cross the Rio Grande River between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. The area has become an immigration hotspot, and particularly deadly for immigrants. Large groups of immigrants have died in river crossings, from exposure in the desert and from cartel activity. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez, surveils the landscape near Texas’ borders with New Mexico and Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants look for ways to cross a series of recently-erected barbed wire groupings to enter a processing and staging area on the northern bank of the Rio Grande River between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A young woman crosses the Rio Grande in hopes of entering the United States between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
An ICE agent escorts a group of men being deported back across a bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
Traffic waits in lines to enter the United States on one of three bridges between the Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Wait times have ballooned in recent years as increased immigration has caused agents to spend more time in processing. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants probe sections of recently erected barbed wire while a member of the Texas National Guard watches on in a truck between the Juarez and El Paso border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Barbed wire sits atop a section of border wall built by a private group near the Texas, New Mexico border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez surveils the landscape near the Texas, New Mexico and Mexican borders on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Texas allowed a private group to fundraise and build a section of border wall near the state’s shared border with New Mexico several years ago as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agents, Erik Hernandez, left, and Orlando Marrero-Rubio surveil the landscape near the New Mexico, Texas and Mexico borders on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agents, Erik Hernandez, left, and Orlando Marrero-Rubio examine a high traffic area with an automated surveillance tower (AST) that has remote sensing cameras that feed to a control center monitored by Border Patrol agents on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
A Border Patrol agent sits in a parked vehicle overlooking a valley where immigrants have crossed from Juarez, Mexico in recent years. on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
A section of border wall near the Texas and New Mexico borders has seen increased technological capabilities in recent years in the form of automated surveillance towers as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
The Rio Grande River separates much of the Texas and Mexico border and has become more militarized in recent years under the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, including the installation and maintenance of barbed wire obstacles as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez, waits for his partner to open a gate into a section of border wall near the Rio Grande River in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
The, ‘Monumento a la Mexicanidad,’ or, ‘Monument to Mexicanness,’ in Jaurez, Mexico symbolizes the first Mexican President, Benito Juarez’s, efforts to unite Aztec and Spanish cultures in one country as seen on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2024.
Just across the Mexican border sits Juarez’s gigantic ‘X’ statue, created by artist, Enrique Carbajal González, to symbolize the pairing of Mexican and Aztec cultures and as a symbol of hope for the harrowed border town on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 from El Paso, Texas’ Murchison Roger Park.
Father Rafael Garcia sees a connection to references to assisting the poor and needy in the scripture to his work in sheltering and providing services to migrants on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. Immigrants are known to ask where Garcia’s place of worship, Sacred Heart Church, is when turning themselves over to U.S. border officials.
Sacred Heart Church in El Paso, Texas has housed thousands of immigrants in recent years and received private donations to continue their efforts as seen on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
El Paso, Texas Mayor, Oscar Leeser, left, talks to city councilmember Art Fierro following the conclusion of the public comment portion of the city council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.
El Paso city councilmember, Art Fierro, right and Mayor, Oscar Leeser, center, talk to a constituent, Patricia Osmond, about immigration and other matters following the conclusion of the public comment portion of the El Paso City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2024.
A large mural by artists Victor Ving and Lisa Beggs has become an iconic landmark of El Paso, featuring several notable buildings and other notable features of the border town on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
Oscar Perea, right, and his mother, Maria Perea, left, respectively manage and own a restaurant near one of El Paso’s largest immigrant shelters as seen on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. The pair told the Denver Gazette while they and the first Venezuelan arrivals they encountered shared some culture shock, they have come to thrive with frequent business and support from the immigrant community, even going as far to serve more Venezuelan cuisine to appeal to them more.
Three connecting bridges between El Paso, Texas and Jaurez, Mexico have seen increased travel times as an influx of immigration has stressed processing, customs and other operations in the area as seen on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott erected multiple strands of barbed wire near Texas’ border with New Mexico after immigrants began crossing through the area to reach El Paso, Texas. The Texas Tribune estimated the new wire runs about two miles before easing.
John Martin is the executive director of the Opportunity Center for the Homeless in El Paso, Texas and has helped operate a shelter since before the first large waves of Venezuelan immigrants began their journeys to the United States in 2022.
Marisa Limón Garza is the executive director of Las Americas, a legal advocacy group for immigrants based in El Paso, Texas. Garza likened Las Americas and other non profits work in the deep red state as a David vs. Goliath battle.
In recent years Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has implemented the use of automated surveillance towers or AST’s to help monitor areas of immigration traffic to compliment officers on the ground and other methods of tracking border crossings as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Immigrants probe areas of recently-installed barbed wire while members of the Texas National Guard watch from a truck on the northern bank of the Rio Grande between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants hoping to enter the United States wait in a staging area on the northern bank of the Rio Grande river just south of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Most sections of the border wall are built slightly north of the actual border on the U.S. side so Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security agents can perform maintenance on the structure. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A woman and young child await more members of their traveling party on the northern bank of the Rio Grande between the United States and Mexico borders just south of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A group of immigrant prepare to cross the Rio Grande River between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. The area has become an immigration hotspot, and particularly deadly for immigrants. Large groups of immigrants have died in river crossings, from exposure in the desert and from cartel activity. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez, surveils the landscape near Texas’ borders with New Mexico and Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants look for ways to cross a series of recently-erected barbed wire groupings to enter a processing and staging area on the northern bank of the Rio Grande River between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A young woman crosses the Rio Grande in hopes of entering the United States between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
An ICE agent escorts a group of men being deported back across a bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
Traffic waits in lines to enter the United States on one of three bridges between the Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Wait times have ballooned in recent years as increased immigration has caused agents to spend more time in processing. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants probe sections of recently erected barbed wire while a member of the Texas National Guard watches on in a truck between the Juarez and El Paso border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Barbed wire sits atop a section of border wall built by a private group near the Texas, New Mexico border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez surveils the landscape near the Texas, New Mexico and Mexican borders on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Texas allowed a private group to fundraise and build a section of border wall near the state’s shared border with New Mexico several years ago as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agents, Erik Hernandez, left, and Orlando Marrero-Rubio surveil the landscape near the New Mexico, Texas and Mexico borders on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agents, Erik Hernandez, left, and Orlando Marrero-Rubio examine a high traffic area with an automated surveillance tower (AST) that has remote sensing cameras that feed to a control center monitored by Border Patrol agents on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
A Border Patrol agent sits in a parked vehicle overlooking a valley where immigrants have crossed from Juarez, Mexico in recent years. on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
A section of border wall near the Texas and New Mexico borders has seen increased technological capabilities in recent years in the form of automated surveillance towers as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
The Rio Grande River separates much of the Texas and Mexico border and has become more militarized in recent years under the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, including the installation and maintenance of barbed wire obstacles as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez, waits for his partner to open a gate into a section of border wall near the Rio Grande River in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
The, ‘Monumento a la Mexicanidad,’ or, ‘Monument to Mexicanness,’ in Jaurez, Mexico symbolizes the first Mexican President, Benito Juarez’s, efforts to unite Aztec and Spanish cultures in one country as seen on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2024.
Just across the Mexican border sits Juarez’s gigantic ‘X’ statue, created by artist, Enrique Carbajal González, to symbolize the pairing of Mexican and Aztec cultures and as a symbol of hope for the harrowed border town on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 from El Paso, Texas’ Murchison Roger Park.
Father Rafael Garcia sees a connection to references to assisting the poor and needy in the scripture to his work in sheltering and providing services to migrants on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. Immigrants are known to ask where Garcia’s place of worship, Sacred Heart Church, is when turning themselves over to U.S. border officials.
Sacred Heart Church in El Paso, Texas has housed thousands of immigrants in recent years and received private donations to continue their efforts as seen on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
El Paso, Texas Mayor, Oscar Leeser, left, talks to city councilmember Art Fierro following the conclusion of the public comment portion of the city council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.
PHOTOS: El Paso, Juarez border sees influx of immigration, enforcement efforts
Immigration between the Juarez and El Paso borders is up in recent years, with shelters, law enforcement and immigrants themselves bearing the brunt of the humanitarian crisis.
Immigrants probe areas of recently-installed barbed wire while members of the Texas National Guard watch from a truck on the northern bank of the Rio Grande between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants hoping to enter the United States wait in a staging area on the northern bank of the Rio Grande river just south of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Most sections of the border wall are built slightly north of the actual border on the U.S. side so Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security agents can perform maintenance on the structure. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A woman and young child await more members of their traveling party on the northern bank of the Rio Grande between the United States and Mexico borders just south of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A group of immigrant prepare to cross the Rio Grande River between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. The area has become an immigration hotspot, and particularly deadly for immigrants. Large groups of immigrants have died in river crossings, from exposure in the desert and from cartel activity. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez, surveils the landscape near Texas’ borders with New Mexico and Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants look for ways to cross a series of recently-erected barbed wire groupings to enter a processing and staging area on the northern bank of the Rio Grande River between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A young woman crosses the Rio Grande in hopes of entering the United States between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
An ICE agent escorts a group of men being deported back across a bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
Traffic waits in lines to enter the United States on one of three bridges between the Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Wait times have ballooned in recent years as increased immigration has caused agents to spend more time in processing. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants probe sections of recently erected barbed wire while a member of the Texas National Guard watches on in a truck between the Juarez and El Paso border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Barbed wire sits atop a section of border wall built by a private group near the Texas, New Mexico border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez surveils the landscape near the Texas, New Mexico and Mexican borders on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Texas allowed a private group to fundraise and build a section of border wall near the state’s shared border with New Mexico several years ago as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agents, Erik Hernandez, left, and Orlando Marrero-Rubio surveil the landscape near the New Mexico, Texas and Mexico borders on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agents, Erik Hernandez, left, and Orlando Marrero-Rubio examine a high traffic area with an automated surveillance tower (AST) that has remote sensing cameras that feed to a control center monitored by Border Patrol agents on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
A Border Patrol agent sits in a parked vehicle overlooking a valley where immigrants have crossed from Juarez, Mexico in recent years. on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
A section of border wall near the Texas and New Mexico borders has seen increased technological capabilities in recent years in the form of automated surveillance towers as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
The Rio Grande River separates much of the Texas and Mexico border and has become more militarized in recent years under the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, including the installation and maintenance of barbed wire obstacles as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez, waits for his partner to open a gate into a section of border wall near the Rio Grande River in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
The, ‘Monumento a la Mexicanidad,’ or, ‘Monument to Mexicanness,’ in Jaurez, Mexico symbolizes the first Mexican President, Benito Juarez’s, efforts to unite Aztec and Spanish cultures in one country as seen on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2024.
Just across the Mexican border sits Juarez’s gigantic ‘X’ statue, created by artist, Enrique Carbajal González, to symbolize the pairing of Mexican and Aztec cultures and as a symbol of hope for the harrowed border town on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 from El Paso, Texas’ Murchison Roger Park.
Father Rafael Garcia sees a connection to references to assisting the poor and needy in the scripture to his work in sheltering and providing services to migrants on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. Immigrants are known to ask where Garcia’s place of worship, Sacred Heart Church, is when turning themselves over to U.S. border officials.
Sacred Heart Church in El Paso, Texas has housed thousands of immigrants in recent years and received private donations to continue their efforts as seen on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
El Paso, Texas Mayor, Oscar Leeser, left, talks to city councilmember Art Fierro following the conclusion of the public comment portion of the city council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.
El Paso city councilmember, Art Fierro, right and Mayor, Oscar Leeser, center, talk to a constituent, Patricia Osmond, about immigration and other matters following the conclusion of the public comment portion of the El Paso City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2024.
A large mural by artists Victor Ving and Lisa Beggs has become an iconic landmark of El Paso, featuring several notable buildings and other notable features of the border town on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
Oscar Perea, right, and his mother, Maria Perea, left, respectively manage and own a restaurant near one of El Paso’s largest immigrant shelters as seen on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. The pair told the Denver Gazette while they and the first Venezuelan arrivals they encountered shared some culture shock, they have come to thrive with frequent business and support from the immigrant community, even going as far to serve more Venezuelan cuisine to appeal to them more.
Three connecting bridges between El Paso, Texas and Jaurez, Mexico have seen increased travel times as an influx of immigration has stressed processing, customs and other operations in the area as seen on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott erected multiple strands of barbed wire near Texas’ border with New Mexico after immigrants began crossing through the area to reach El Paso, Texas. The Texas Tribune estimated the new wire runs about two miles before easing.
John Martin is the executive director of the Opportunity Center for the Homeless in El Paso, Texas and has helped operate a shelter since before the first large waves of Venezuelan immigrants began their journeys to the United States in 2022.
Marisa Limón Garza is the executive director of Las Americas, a legal advocacy group for immigrants based in El Paso, Texas. Garza likened Las Americas and other non profits work in the deep red state as a David vs. Goliath battle.
In recent years Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has implemented the use of automated surveillance towers or AST’s to help monitor areas of immigration traffic to compliment officers on the ground and other methods of tracking border crossings as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Immigrants probe areas of recently-installed barbed wire while members of the Texas National Guard watch from a truck on the northern bank of the Rio Grande between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants hoping to enter the United States wait in a staging area on the northern bank of the Rio Grande river just south of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Most sections of the border wall are built slightly north of the actual border on the U.S. side so Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security agents can perform maintenance on the structure. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A woman and young child await more members of their traveling party on the northern bank of the Rio Grande between the United States and Mexico borders just south of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A group of immigrant prepare to cross the Rio Grande River between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. The area has become an immigration hotspot, and particularly deadly for immigrants. Large groups of immigrants have died in river crossings, from exposure in the desert and from cartel activity. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez, surveils the landscape near Texas’ borders with New Mexico and Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants look for ways to cross a series of recently-erected barbed wire groupings to enter a processing and staging area on the northern bank of the Rio Grande River between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
A young woman crosses the Rio Grande in hopes of entering the United States between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
An ICE agent escorts a group of men being deported back across a bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette)
Traffic waits in lines to enter the United States on one of three bridges between the Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Wait times have ballooned in recent years as increased immigration has caused agents to spend more time in processing. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Immigrants probe sections of recently erected barbed wire while a member of the Texas National Guard watches on in a truck between the Juarez and El Paso border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Barbed wire sits atop a section of border wall built by a private group near the Texas, New Mexico border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez surveils the landscape near the Texas, New Mexico and Mexican borders on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
Texas allowed a private group to fundraise and build a section of border wall near the state’s shared border with New Mexico several years ago as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agents, Erik Hernandez, left, and Orlando Marrero-Rubio surveil the landscape near the New Mexico, Texas and Mexico borders on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agents, Erik Hernandez, left, and Orlando Marrero-Rubio examine a high traffic area with an automated surveillance tower (AST) that has remote sensing cameras that feed to a control center monitored by Border Patrol agents on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
A Border Patrol agent sits in a parked vehicle overlooking a valley where immigrants have crossed from Juarez, Mexico in recent years. on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette)
A section of border wall near the Texas and New Mexico borders has seen increased technological capabilities in recent years in the form of automated surveillance towers as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
The Rio Grande River separates much of the Texas and Mexico border and has become more militarized in recent years under the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, including the installation and maintenance of barbed wire obstacles as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez, waits for his partner to open a gate into a section of border wall near the Rio Grande River in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
The, ‘Monumento a la Mexicanidad,’ or, ‘Monument to Mexicanness,’ in Jaurez, Mexico symbolizes the first Mexican President, Benito Juarez’s, efforts to unite Aztec and Spanish cultures in one country as seen on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2024.
Just across the Mexican border sits Juarez’s gigantic ‘X’ statue, created by artist, Enrique Carbajal González, to symbolize the pairing of Mexican and Aztec cultures and as a symbol of hope for the harrowed border town on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 from El Paso, Texas’ Murchison Roger Park.
Father Rafael Garcia sees a connection to references to assisting the poor and needy in the scripture to his work in sheltering and providing services to migrants on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. Immigrants are known to ask where Garcia’s place of worship, Sacred Heart Church, is when turning themselves over to U.S. border officials.
Sacred Heart Church in El Paso, Texas has housed thousands of immigrants in recent years and received private donations to continue their efforts as seen on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
El Paso, Texas Mayor, Oscar Leeser, left, talks to city councilmember Art Fierro following the conclusion of the public comment portion of the city council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.
Three Republican candidates in Colorado filed a lawsuit in Denver District Court this week seeking to prevent unaffiliated voters from participating in next month’s GOP primary, arguing that the state’s semi-open primary system violates their constitutional rights by forcing Republicans...
The lighter side of the state Capitol, usually. At first, May the Fourth might have been a bit of a disappointment. Usually, there’s a lot of Star Wars foolishness on this particular day, but early on, it was low-key. The...
Forty-Five Years Ago This Week: After House Bill 81-1542, which would have mandated detention for juveniles carrying concealed weapons, cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Paul Powers, R-Denver, said he had received 45 letters per day denouncing the legislation. And...
CoPo’s weekly political calendar will help you find political and public-policy events throughout Colorado. It includes candidate and issue campaign events, public policy meetings, court hearings, state and local party conventions, assemblies, debates, rallies, parades, speaking engagements, traveling dignitary appearances,...
If you are upset with the increasing regulatory burden in Colorado, the exodus of too many large employers, accelerating property taxes, the condition of the roads, and all of the funding for transit schemes with low demand, of course, you...
Colorado lawmakers are seeking to impose a new fee on online game purchases, in particular targeting “add-on transactions,” referring to features or enhancements that players can buy. Sponsors said they want to earmark the new revenue toward youth mental health...
Despite objections from legislative staff and Republican opposition, Senate Democrats on Friday moved forward with a proposal to reroute $306 million in taxpayer refunds. Already, critics are preparing to sue over the proposal that seeks to take $300 million in Taxpayer’s...
Gov. Jared Polis on Friday officially signed a $46.87 billion spending plan for the Colorado state government in the next fiscal year. His signature is the culmination of months of work by legislators, who resorted to cuts, transfers and other...
Colorado’s long‑running bid to let Pinnacol Assurance break away from state control is suddenly in jeopardy, as a newly revised bill — stripped of the payouts and structural changes once central to the deal — has triggered fresh tensions among...
It’s been nearly two decades since Denver shared the spotlight as host to the 2008 Democratic National Convention — and a lot has happened in the city since then. But not major party conventions. In fact, before 2008, Denver hadn’t...
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