Rosalinda posted the stages of the trip on TikTok. The crossing of the “selva”, the jungle: five days of walking between Colombia and Panama. The family on the roof of the freight train, Mexico. Little Isabel, 3 years old, to whom the affair was presented as a road trip, who marvels at the sight of the monkeys. Michelle, the eldest, 14 years old, terrified, clinging to the wagons. “She cried all the way to the American border”remembers the mother.
Four months have passed. Rosalinda shows her photos in the cafeteria of the center where she is staying in Denver, Colorado. The big one has joined school, the little one is playing under the table with an empty yogurt pot. Mullen House, a former retirement home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, is a safe haven. At the end of December 2023, at the request of the municipality, the archdiocese provided 95 rooms for migrants. Almost all of them are from Venezuela. Many spent a few years in Ecuador or Colombia, before embarking on the road of exile towards the United States.
Miguel Arroyo, 33, and Rosalinda Rodriguez, 32, arrived on November 14, 2023. Legally, they are not entitled to Temporary Protected Status, the humanitarian safe conduct granted, until July 31, to Venezuelans. Their asylum request will not be studied by a judge until April 16, 2029, in more than five years, according to the summons which appears on their receipt. Until then, Miguel has little chance of obtaining a work permit, but that doesn’t matter. He has already downloaded the Sitefotos application, which allows you to identify the sidewalks to be cleared of snow. Twenty-five dollars (23 euros) per hour, or 10 dollars more than the minimum wage in Colorado.
Migrants beg to be allowed to work. In the state, 160,000 jobs are vacant. “We receive calls from all over the country, from companies who want us to send them workersrelates Terry Peltes, one of the leaders of Catholic Charities, the charitable association of the Archdiocese of Denver. And they are not all careful about regulations. »
The mayor calls for help
With 710,000 inhabitants, the capital of Colorado is the American city which has absorbed the greatest number of migrants, in proportion to its population: more than 38,500 in just over a year. The first buses arrived from Texas in May 2023, chartered by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, eager to shift the burden of migrants to Democratic cities. In December, the municipality counted 144 charters from Texas. The drivers do not drop off arrivals in front of a shelter, but on the steps of the Capitol: « for images of republican video clipsdenounces Amy Golden, co-founder of the group Denver Moms for Social Justice. It’s cruel. So small”.
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