By The newspaper
04 Jun 2024, 15:35 PM EDT
The Denver Housing Access Action Network (HAND) has denounced this week that authorities in Colorado’s capital are forcing the departure of homeless immigrants and other homeless people through police operations.
According to HAND, these operations have been carried out by the Street Enforcement Team (SET), created two years ago, and focus exclusively on removing the homeless using the police. , fines and imprisonment.
HAND maintains that these actions contradict the House 1,000 Initiative, launched in 2023 by Mayor Mike Johnston, which promised to find permanent housing for 1,000 homeless people in Denver. “Homeless people are being forced to ‘move away’ by force,” the report states, according to the EFE news agency.
The HAND report highlights that this situation affects both local homeless residents and new immigrants, mostly from Venezuela, who have arrived en masse in Denver since November 2022.
According to the document, Mayor Johnston closed six migrant shelters last March, resulting in thousands of migrants, including babies and children, being expelled onto the streets.
Additionally, immigrant families have continually been forced to leave the city, and shelters for the local homeless population have actively turned away any migrants simply because of their immigrant status.
Inability to find jobs
Previous studies conducted by HAND earlier this year highlighted the near impossibility for newly arrived immigrants to find jobs that would allow them to access decent housing for themselves and their families. Existing job opportunities, such as in construction and renovation, were not necessarily suitable for these immigrants.
An analysis of homelessness in Denver, conducted by the Denver Gazette in 2023 and 2024, appears to confirm HAND’s position by stating that “there is a wide gap” between the local municipality and providers of services and assistance to the homeless.
The Denver Gazette report also reveals that only one person opted for drug treatment among approximately 600 homeless people housed in municipal shelters, which is contrary to what was anticipated by Johnston, who hoped to meet the treatment and mental health services needs of thousands of homeless by offering these services directly in shelters.
During debates on the 2025 budget, councilors have expressed that the city must recognize that providing shelter “is not enough” and that appropriate programs and services are required.
HAND delivered a petition this week to Denver council members asking that “the significant increase in police actions against homeless people since January” be reversed so that these people can “live free from fear.”
With information from EFE.
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