As Title 42 hangs in the balance, Colorado Springs non-profits prepare for influx of migrants
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- While a federal order that stopped immigrants from seeking asylum in the United States hangs in the balance, Colorado Springs non-profits prepare for the possible influx of people needing help in the area.
Title 42, which prevented people from seeking asylum to enter the U.S. to prevent the spread of COVID-19, was set to expire Wednesday, Dec. 21. This was put in place under the Trump Administration and lasted through now.
However, Monday afternoon, Supreme Court Justice John Roberts put a temporary hold on the termination of the immigration policy. With the brief order, officials can continue stopping immigrants at the US border. This will stay in effect until the justices decide on the emergency application.
Despite the back and forth with Title 42, leaders in Colorado Springs are preparing for the possible influx of immigrants. The state's capitol has already taken steps surrounding this issue.
On Dec. 15, the Denver Mayor issued an emergency declaration to help free up additional resources for the influx of migrants from Central and South America. According to 9News, 247 people had arrived in Denver when that declaration was issued.
Colorado Springs leaders believe it's only a matter of time before more individuals head to the Pikes Peak area.
Catholic Charities, a non-profit organization that plays a part in helping the less fortunate and the homeless community, is working to prepare for what might happen. Officials are meeting with other Catholic leaders to discuss temporary plans to house the hundreds of migrants coming in.
Andy Barton, the CEO of Catholic Charities in Colorado Springs, told KRDO his organization can't shelter a large group of individuals at this time. That's why Barton said he and his team are talking with other Colorado Springs churches to come up with the best short-term temporary housing plan.
"The way we understand that is that we have this backlog of kind of asylum seekers that are at the border right now who would have been flowing through under normal circumstances and so we understand that we can do from 2,000 a day to about 14,000 a day kind of overnight," said Barton.
Catholic Charities told KRDO their locations in the Denver area already seeing an influx of migrants. Since Sunday, the City of Denver reported that more than 500 migrants are living inside one of their two emergency city shelters.
However, Barton said Catholic Charities has not played a huge role in helping Denver manage the more than 500 migrants living inside the emergency city shelters. Still, he believes after Title 42 expires, their involvement will quickly change.
"That will impact we think communities all across the country as those borders communities try to decompress folks and put the into new locations," added Barton.
Barton said this time of year in general is difficult when it comes to issues surrounding shelters.
"I think the worst-case scenario we are looking at locally would be that a number of individuals who are unsheltered in the middle of winter. And that's the piece that we want to be prepared for," said Barton.
