Dozens of community members launched a month of public actions across Colorado to call on the United States to be a leader in respecting the human rights of all people migrating around the world. The group calls on all levels of government and the public to meet this moment of mass migration due to climate change, military and economic violence with vision, dignity, welcome and respect for basic human rights.
Jordan García of the American Friends Service Committee’s Colorado office states, “Fundamentally, safety starts with us, at the interpersonal and community level – we keep each other safe by opening our arms, our pantries, gardens and homes. A government’s policies can make migration safer and more humane or deadly and traumatic. While corporations and governments focus on walls and weapons, our response focuses on welcome. The Biden Administration’s asylum ban and higher walls violate human rights and are deadly. We must do better”
The organizations involved call on the City of Denver to continue to offer shelter and partner with nonprofits for resettlement. They call for state legislators and the Governor and to prioritize effective policies like master leasing and rent control for newcomers and unhoused or housing insecure Coloradans alike as well as lead efforts to welcome folks to areas outside Metro Denver.
Everyday people and small nonprofits worked with an estimated 30,000 newcomers to Colorado this year, quietly integrating people into daily life in Summit County, Morgan County, Larimer County and the Metro area.
On May 11, President Biden’s asylum ban began. Over 51,000 people in the US submitted comments opposing the ban before it went into effect. The ban makes approaching a port of entry to ask for asylum at the US southern or northern borders impossible in practice. Border Patrol immediately began turning people away, trapping them between walls on the US-Mexico border without shelter or food. The Biden Administration has continued construction of Trump’s wall and is about to destroy historic Friendship Park in San Diego. On April 12, Denver began excluding people who are undocumented newcomers from shelter stays, going against our cities’ commitment to fair treatment.
