Although there’s never been a formal adoption of the title, Denver is a self-declared sanctuary city. While it’s true there is no legal definition of what this means, it usually involves a commitment by city officials to be welcoming, supporting and protective of immigrants. One example could be a local ordinance that prevents law enforcement from asking people about their immigration status.
In the last two years, Denver has become a destination for immigrants seeking asylum who cross into Texas from Central and South America. Many are assigned dates for their asylum cases in Texas and given a choice of a bus ticket to New York, Chicago or Denver. Denver is the closest choice to where they must return for an asylum appointment, so the number of noncitizens in Denver has been remarkable.
In 2023, roughly 40,000 immigrants arrived in Denver, a city with a population of 710,000. While it’s true that up to half may eventually move somewhere else, this initial number represents a 5 percent increase to Denver’s population in a very short amount of time.
The city has an office of Immigrant & Refugee Affairs that partners with nonprofits, government agencies and community groups, but the need for services is still very high.
That’s where Denver Inner City Parish’s Immigrant Center comes in.
Below we discuss the contributions and challenges faced by newly arrived migrants, how we help our new neighbors feel welcomed and how you can be a part of this effort through your time, talents and donations.
Challenges Faced by Immigrants and Migrants in Denver
Unless a person came to Denver before 7/30/2023, it will likely take time to get a work permit. This is a necessity to obtain any “on the books” job so not having a work permit vastly limits the kind of work a migrant can do and opens them up to being taken advantage of by people who realize they have few options.
Work permits cost $500, making them out of reach for almost all migrants who arrived here with only the clothes they were wearing.
Another challenge is the number of newly arrived migrants with school age children. They are unaware of whether their child(ren) can attend school and how to register, etc. In addition to their own basic survival, they are struggling with the needs to house, feed and school their families.
While 14% of the Denver population is Spanish speaking, this percentage is a lot lower than many other metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Miami or even Dallas/Fort Worth, TX. Finding an interpreter or translator is not a guarantee at a lot of offices, even those who work with migrants on a regular basis.
Finally, the high cost of housing in Colorado means that many migrants are signing leases and living with a large number of people to be able to afford to pay the rent. Many leases are a minimum of 6 months and failure to be able to sustain rent payments could result in an eviction, making it even harder to rent in the future.
Contributions from Immigrants and Migrants in Denver
Many of the newly arrived migrants had higher profile jobs in their native countries, as is the case with many Venezuelan arrivals. However, many are not able to transfer their nursing or other professional licenses here. Wanting a hand up and not a hand out, they will seek work as landscapers, painters, babysitters and cleaners – all necessary and vital roles in our economy.
Migrants with work permits pay federal payroll taxes which fund Medicare and Social Security – neither of which they can benefit from.
But that’s not all they are funding while never being able to recover what they’ve put in through their paychecks.
Over the past 10 years, undocumented immigrants in Colorado have contributed to $188 million in Unemployment Insurance premiums, yet are ineligible for unemployment insurance benefits.
Migrants also pay sales taxes on everything they buy. In 40 states, including Colorado, undocumented immigrants paid higher tax rates than the top 1% of the income scale in those states, according to a study released from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
How DICP can help Immigrants and Migrants in Denver
We serve the same neighborhood as other immigrant focused nonprofits and are within walking distance, in a low income neighborhood along public transport to assist this population.
Denver Inner City Parish’s Immigrant Center can help with:
- Help get TPS status, apply and help fund work permits
- Free landlord/tenant advice
- Free basic immigration legal services
- Help with driver’s license, Colorado ID, ITIN, DACA, green card, naturalization
- Help with other resources
- Advice about “Public Charge”
- Notary
- Xcel Bill assistance through Energy Outreach Colorado
Even if we can’t provide something, we will connect them with the resource that can.
Immigrant Center services are available at our office Monday – Wednesday 10 am – 3 pm.
A few statistics: 24+ countries of origin, 300 plus people served in the first 6 months of 2024, and 600+ volunteer hours.
To be a part of our mission to empower our newly arrived neighbors, you can:
- Donate to Immigrant Center – https://www.coloradogives.org/donate/dicp
- Volunteer to help at our office – https://dicp.org/support/volunteer/