AURORA, Colo. — Denver's approach to sheltering migrants so they don't end up on the streets is now pushing other vulnerable people onto the streets.
As the migrant crisis collides with the city's homelessness problem, the impacts are spilling over into other cities. People who’d been living in a hotel in Aurora for months say they were pushed to the street this weekend after the City of Denver bought out all the rooms for migrants.
"Our family, we’ve been sleeping in the car for a couple of days," said Joe Sauceda, who used to live at a Quality Inn in Aurora.
When Denver leased the hotel for the migrants, the hotel kicked out people like Sauceda. He said he’d lived at the Quality Inn for almost a year. His room key is no longer useful as he sleeps in his ’97 Lincoln with his partner and dog.
"I don’t think it’s fair at all. Because where do I go?" Sauceda said. "Why are we taking precedence over hardworking people that have been living here and are citizens of Aurora? Why are they pushing us out to bring other people in here?"
The City of Denver said they didn’t ask the owner of the hotel to kick anyone who was living there out of their rooms to make space for the migrants. They said that was up to the owner of the Quality Inn. 9NEWS reached out to the hotel but did not hear back.
"Several factors come into play when identifying a potential shelter location, including the number of rooms and long-term availability. In this case and in all others, we asked how many rooms were available and booked based on the owner’s answer. We would never ask anyone staying at a property to leave," the City of Denver wrote in a statement.
The hotel is full, with 400 migrants now living there who've arrived within the past few days.
They include people like Luis Ortega, who arrived in Colorado five days ago. He traveled from Venezuela over several months to get here.
"I haven’t been able to get a job. There are no jobs," Ortega said in Spanish. "They’re going to kick me out. And with the cold here, it’s horrible."
His room, and everyone else’s, is paid for by the City of Denver. After 14 days, Ortega will be kicked out of the makeshift migrant shelter. He said he doesn’t have the money for an apartment and will have to sleep on the street.
"I need work so that I can afford an apartment," he said. "It’s difficult. Yes, sir."
The rooms that for months belonged to residents paying weekly rates, like Sauceda, now belong to others.
"It was home," Sauceda said.
Now his room is someone else's as the people now living there prepare to become homeless themselves when their time in the shelter runs out.
"They gave me 14 days exactly. I’ve already been here five days," Ortega said. "So now I have nine days left to stay here."
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