Denver has received more than 1,400 unaccompanied migrant children
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Between 2015 and 2023, Denver received more than 1,400 unaccompanied migrant kids, most from Honduras and Guatemala, per U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data.
Why it matters: Unaccompanied migrant children are an especially vulnerable group as federal, state and city leaders spar over sheltering and supporting foreigners who have crossed the border without permission.
What they're saying: "Migrant children, who have been coming into the United States without their parents in record numbers, are ending up in some of the most punishing jobs in the country," per a recent New York Times investigation.
- "This shadow workforce extends across industries in every state, flouting child labor laws that have been in place for nearly a century."
State of play: Denver officials are trying to prevent those outcomes through initiatives like their asylum-seeker program, which "provide actual sustainability for families and allow kids to focus on being kids," Denver Human Services spokesperson Jon Ewing tells us.
Zoom out: Other Colorado cities have also received a sizable share of unaccompanied children during this time span, including Aurora (1,330 kids) and Colorado Springs (about 700), per federal data.
How it works: The data comes from migrant children sponsors' ZIP codes obtained by the Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The big picture: The number of unaccompanied migrant children in Denver pales in comparison to that of other major cities.
- Houston (about 32,000 kids), Los Angeles (about 12,700) and Dallas (about 8,500) received the largest shares of the 550,000-plus unaccompanied migrant children who arrived in U.S. cities during that period.
The bottom line: Addressing the border is one thing — but hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied kids are already in the U.S., and looking to local, state and federal officials for help and protection.