DENVER (KDVR) — Samuel, a Venezuelan migrant who asked to use his first name, said he spent days trekking through wilderness across a continent, eventually landing at a hotel in Denver.
Samuel said he saw dead people and other things he wouldn’t talk about, and he experienced that danger firsthand.
FOX31 met Samuel at the Denver hotel where is staying. The accommodations are part of the city’s effort to house and care for hundreds of migrants who have arrived here in the last week.
U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colorado, told FOX31 that she and other lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden, asking for help to fund care for migrants.
“Food, shelter, health services, transportation, other social services that are already being done, just without federal funding,” Caraveo said.
After a treacherous journey, trying for asylum
Like many others, Samuel scrambled to the U.S. border with Mexico for a shot to get across ahead of the expiration of Title 42. He said he stayed in a jungle where there were wild animals and bad people doing bad things.
He made it across Colombia and Panama, then eventually to Mexico, where he found work. When Samuel made it to the southern border, he said he tried once but was not allowed to apply for asylum.
After a 47-day journey, Samuel said he was allowed into the United States while his process to get asylum began. He made it to El Paso where he stayed for five days, worried about his application and not knowing what would happen.
Getting to his final destination is Samuel’s goal, where he said he will resolve his immigration status with the government.
On the broader issue of immigration, Caraveo has a message to her constituents in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District.
“We need to have real immigration reform, we need to secure our southern border, but we need to provide people with a legal pathway to immigrating to this country, deal with the key issues around migration, make sure that we’re keeping children safe,” Caraveo said.