Emergency officials say there’s no way to track the number of migrants in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - At a Monday city council work session, Mayor Yemi Mobolade and the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management (PPROEM) rolled out their plans for a potential surge in migrants.
However, emergency officials said there's no way to get an accurate number of how many migrants are currently in Colorado Springs or have come through the city.
"I recognize that it's unsatisfying to our community not to have concrete numbers, but it would be irresponsible if we were to share anecdotal information as if it was concrete information, concrete data," said Ryan Trujillo, Deputy Chief of Staff for the City of Colorado Springs.
In their presentation, titled "Migrant Contingency Response Framework," emergency officials said the migrant crisis is not an emergency within Colorado Springs at this time, but defined the "Decision Point" scenarios that would trigger an emergency status:
- A significant and uncoordinated/unplanned surge of migrants into the Pikes Peak
region - The establishment of spontaneous encampments
- Public Health identifies a communicable disease outbreak
- Notification that local hotels are being contracted for sheltering migrants
- Demand for shelter and other life-saving services exceeds the community’s capability
"We don't have an A, B, C if this happens, because what we do is we plan for the unexpected in everything," said Andrew Notbohm, Director of the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management.
During the presentation, Councilman Dave Donelson sought clarity concerning their references to capacity and capability.
When Donelson asked how close the city was to reaching max capacity of available resources, Notbohm responded "I don't think we're there yet, we're not there."
"Are we at 90%? Are we at 10%?" Donelson asked.
"I can't get that number, I don't have that information," replied Notbohm.
Donelson raised more concerns in the work session, and he argued the PPROEM did not provide concrete steps forward in their plan.
"What is the plan? That's the briefing we're supposed to be receiving is 'What is the plan?'" asked Donelson.
Emergency officials told KRDO13 they're responding to a possible migrant crisis like they would a wildfire. They said they're assessing all available resources, so they're ready to make quick, informed decisions when the time comes to act.
Trujillo said the city doesn't know the number of migrants in Colorado Springs because there is no processing system in place. He said they're relying on relationships with local nonprofits to prepare and get any information they can.
