A Cold New Home
Dani Rodriguez journeyed three months from his home in Medellin, Colombia, including six days in the Darien Gap, until he reached the U.S.-Mexico border last November. He recently made it to Denver, where he was met with slushy, melting snow as he set up his tent in the latest of various migrant encampments around the city.
It was Sunday, and some at the encampment hung out together, others went out looking for work, and volunteers came by with donated hot meals and clothing as the afternoon wore on. Gregory Guillen Diaz told me of his wife and two kids back home as he sorted through clothing donations. Earlier that winter, Jose Giovanis and Juan Carlos Pioltelli played dominoes in a heated tent at a different encampment, despite a deep freeze plunging temperatures below zero.
More than 40,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have arrived in Denver over the last two years - more per capita than any other American city. Many of them have shuffled in and out of city shelters that have limited time and capacity, and have no ability to work legally, since they arrived too late to get Temporary Protected Status.
From schools suddenly learning how to teach thousands of new Spanish-speaking students dealing with the trauma of migration, to an undocumented family in a precarious situation, to volunteers coming together to help in any way they can, and Denver's new mayor navigating the crisis, I've spent time photographing the many issues facing migrants and how the city is faring
Photographed for The Wall Street Journal , The Colorado Sun and The Denver Post