Denver welcomes migrants today, and yesterday

GUEST COLUMN

Why Denver and why now? We wondered as we watched in early December as the quiet arrival of migrants from our southern border increased suddenly and noticeably. We watched with worry as they arrived to our city and were greeted with bone-chilling temperatures, full shelters and a city government on its heels, working overtime to welcome them the best it could.

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To subscribe call 303-566-4100 or visit www.washparkprofile.com/subscribe ese new rules will require thoughtful implementation and a clear focus on equity since the majority of stolen wages target people of color, immigrants, refugees, people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations. I’m running for auditor to bring this kind of forward-looking vision to the Denver Auditor’s O ce. Denver’s workers deserve leadership.

Erik Clarke is a manager at a large accounting rm focused on nancial advisory and strategy. He’s a candidate for Denver City Auditor in the upcoming municipal election.

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MICHAEL DE YOANNA

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CHRISTY STEADMAN

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Councilmember Robin Kniech

But Denver wasn’t the only city receiving men, women, families with children, people eeing violence, climate disruption and economic collapse abroad. And it wasn’t Denver’s rst time seeing a wave of cross-cultural migration. When life becomes untenable where you are, “somewhere else” becomes an answer — even at great cost and risk, without knowing what will come next.

We don’t have to look far back to see times when our city welcomed people taking such life-changing, risky journeys. History Colorado’s Colorado Encyclopedia chronicles Denver’s modern experience with these earlier eras:

· Waves of recruitment for immigrant labor largely drove waves of migration in the late 1800s into the early 1900s, including eastern European Jewish communities that formed in several neighborhoods of Denver.

SEE KNIECH, P11

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