Rosalinda posted the stages of the trip on TikTok. The trek in the selva, the jungle, a five-day walk between Colombia and Panama. Little Isabel, 3, who was told the whole affair was some kind of a road trip, marveling at the sight of monkeys. The family on the roof of the freight train in Mexico. Michelle, the eldest, 14, terrified, clinging to the wagons. "She cried all the way to the US border," said her mother.

Four months have passed since then. Rosalinda showed us her photos in the cafeteria of the center where she was staying in Denver, Colorado. Her eldest child had just started school, the youngest was playing under the table with an empty yogurt pot. Mullen House, a former retirement home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, is a safe haven. At the end of December 2023, at the request of the city council, the archdiocese set up 95 rooms for migrants. Almost all are from Venezuela. Many spent a few years in Ecuador or Colombia, before setting off on the road to exile in the US.

Miguel Arroyo, 33, and Rosalinda Rodriguez, 32, arrived on November 14, 2023. Legally, they are not entitled to Temporary Protected Status, the humanitarian status granted to Venezuelans until July 31. Their asylum application will not be considered by a judge until April 16, 2029, more than five years from now, according to the summons on their receipt. Miguel has little chance of obtaining a work permit until then, but that doesn't matter. He has already downloaded the Sitefotos application, which allows him to identify sidewalks that need clearing of snow. It pays $25 (€23) an hour, or $10 more than the minimum wage in Colorado.

Migrants here beg for work. There are 160,000 job vacancies in the state. "We're getting calls from all over the country, from companies wanting us to send them labor," said Terry Peltes, one of the heads of Catholic Charities, the Archdiocese of Denver's charity. "And most of them don't care about rules and regulations."

Deficit

With 710,000 people, Colorado's capital is the US city that has welcomed the largest number of migrants in proportion to its population: over 38,500 in just over a year. The first buses arrived from Texas in May 2023, chartered by the Republican governor, Greg Abbott, eager to shift the migrant burden onto Democratic cities. In December, the municipality counted 144 charters from Texas. The drivers don't drop the arrivals off in front of a shelter, but on the steps of the Capitol "for the Republican photo ops," said Amy Golden, co-founder of the group Denver Moms for Social Justice. "It's so cruel, so low."

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