Officials have extended a public health order that requires entities or individuals who would send groups of migrants to shelter in Douglas County to provide personal information about the migrants, including their country of origin, health screenings and other details.
The extension of the order, first issued in December, is linked to the tens of thousands of migrants, many from Venezuela, arriving in Denver in recent months.
“Our board believes — for the preservation of public health, safety and welfare in Douglas County — that this public health order is still necessary in the unlikely event that migrants are placed in Douglas County,” Michael Hill, director of the Douglas County Health Department, said in a prepared statement.
Months ago, the county’s Board of Health adopted an order with requirements for any entity that sends migrants to the county for shelter.
At the time, the county had called that public health order “preemptive,” saying officials had no reason to believe that nearby governments intended to turn to the county to shelter migrants.
Meanwhile, Douglas leaders are responding to the migrant crisis in other ways. Even though officials were not aware of any migrants being dropped off in Douglas County as of mid-March, the county’s elected leaders are poised to enact an ordinance to prevent bus drivers from unloading passengers in “unplanned locations.”
For more details on the order and the events that led up to it, see the Douglas County News-Press’ earlier coverage at tinyurl.com/DouglasMigrantHealthOrder. See the text of the extended order, extended in mid-March, at tinyurl.com/DouglasMigrantOrderExtend.
The order remains in effect until it is rescinded by the county health board, according to its text.
Of the roughly 40,000 migrants that have been tracked by officials in Denver, not all stay. The city has purchased about 20,000 one-way bus tickets for new arrivals looking to go to other cities, The Colorado Sun reported. People often request to go where they have friends or family who have already settled, and Chicago and New York City have been the top destinations for one-way bus tickets, the Sun reported.
Others may stay in Denver initially, but later move to other Colorado cities or states in search of jobs or cheaper housing.