DENVER — Hundreds of asylum-seekers are gathering at the Community College of Denver this week for the launch of an ambitious work training program, WorkReady Denver, that is a pivotal part of the city's shift in how it addresses a migrant population that has grown over the last two years.
WorkReady Denver classes kicked off Monday in a classroom bustling with dozens of migrants, including families with young children sitting on their mother’s laps. The training is intended to prepare asylum-seekers for the labor market as they wait the mandatory six months before they can receive work permits. The city’s migrant support program, which includes work training and other benefits, is a departure from the short-term shelter strategy that New York, Chicago and also Denver have used to attend to their growing migrant populations.
Areleidis Chiquillo attended the class with her 2-month-old baby in her arms, her 5-year-old daughter on her lap and her husband at her side. The family, originally from Colombia, arrived in December seeking asylum. She said she had been both “very nervous and excited” ahead of the class.
“It has been so difficult to find work,” Chiquillo said.
The 26-year-old studied nursing in Colombia and is hopeful the program will help her pursue the same career in the United States.
“I would be so proud to train to become a nurse here,” she said as she rocked her infant.
The workforce training initiative is a cornerstone of Denver’s new asylum-seeker program that is designed to help some 800 newly arrived migrants transition into stable lives in the city. The six-month program will provide job training as well as six months of rent, language instruction and a debit card to pay for food and legal support in filing asylum claims.
At least one member of each family is required to attend the work training as part of the program, said Jon Ewing, a city spokesperson who manages communications for Denver’s newcomer response.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said in a statement that asylum-seekers time and time again have told him that “what they want most is the ability to work and provide for their families.”
“This program does just that by opening up training opportunities so individuals have the skills and education they need when they are legally able to enter the workforce,” he said.
The city wanted to create a “more systemic approach” into the workforce for transitioning migrants wishing to stay in Denver as their immigration cases play out, especially as there are industries facing worker shortages, Adeeb Khan, the executive director of Denver Economic Development and Opportunity, said outside the classroom Monday morning.
Those fields include construction, childcare, health care and hospitality, he said. Colorado has 52 available workers for every 100 open jobs, according to the Worker Shortage Index from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The work-training classes in Denver will offer English language courses, GED courses, cultural integration, and then training and credentialing for specific fields, Khan said.
“We have employers who are ready to hire. We just want to make sure that our individuals who are coming through the program are as ready as possible with those credentials, so they’re going to be hired as soon as that work authorization kicks in,” he said.
In May, the city approved a contract with the local worker center El Centro de Los Trabajadores Colorado, which will assist with the training and finding employment for the migrants.
“So they’ll leave after this program with a good job that’s going to be sustainable and they can actually support their family long term,” said Mayra Juárez-Denis, the executive director of the center. “All of that is under a worker-centered model, which is not just preparing the worker for a job, but also making sure they understand their rights, their workers rights, and all that is needed for them to be sustainable economically, financially and with the dignity of their work.”
On Monday, participants received laptops and an instructor explained that during the course they'd learn how to access the internet, send email and use apps like Microsoft Excel.
They were introduced to the first steps in the process of obtaining a certification for construction, health care, hospitality and service jobs. An instructor also explained minimum wage and hourly pay.
And they learned soft skills as well, like how to present oneself in the workplace and the importance of punctuality.
Edwin Antonio Sanchez Mora, 43, was a miner in his home country of Venezuela and now wants to train to work in construction and machinery.
“We arrived here disoriented and confused,” Sanchez Mora said as he sat in the front row of the classroom. “But now I believe we’re going to integrate here really well.”
“In six months, this is going to completely change our lives,” he said. “This is one of the best things that’s happened to us.”
Denver's work training program is a shift from the model that New York, Chicago and Denver itself have used to address the surge of migrants into the cities since 2022 when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants north.
Struggling to accommodate migrant populations that have grown considerably over the past two years, they have housed people in hotels, tents and other makeshift shelters and scrambled to assemble social safety nets without devastating their budgets.
More than 42,000 people have arrived in Denver since 2022, though most have chosen to relocate to other cities, Denver officials have said.
Those enrolled in the Denver Asylum Seekers Program are migrants who were in Denver’s shelter system as of April and are applying for asylum, Ewing, the city spokesperson, said. By April, Denver had far fewer people in its shelter system than Chicago and New York City.
Genesis Escalona, 24, held her 3-year-old son on her lap as the little boy with long hair and blue denim overalls played with a pink beaded necklace and wrapped his arm around his mother. Next to them was Escalona’s 6-year-old daughter, wearing a yellow bow and dress, and her husband Nick Anderson Montoya Yuncoza, 26. The Venezuelan family said they arrived in March and are seeking asylum in the United States after Montoya Yuncoza was imprisoned for his political beliefs.
After the dangerous journey north, the two said they felt incredibly lucky to be a part of Denver’s new asylum-seeker program.
“We feel so blessed and so grateful,” Escalona said.
Montoya Yuncoza said it has taken a huge burden off their shoulders “to know that we don’t yet have to pay for our rent, services, food.”
“All we have to do is dedicate ourselves to this program, to study and learn,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to be a part of this, and create new opportunities.”
The family said they moved into an apartment last week as part of the program and are excited to have their own space and be able to cook for themselves after exiting the hotel shelter where they had been staying for months.
“I love that you feel safe here,” Escalona said. “We aren’t afraid anymore. We’re at peace.”
