DENVER — The City of Denver will send one of its employees to El Paso, Texas, in the coming days to meet with immigrants and inform them of the new immigration strategy.
Victoria Aguilar, public information officer for Denver Human Services, will leave for El Paso on Saturday.
The city’s immigration strategy has shifted in recent weeks. Instead of focusing on helping all immigrants who arrive, the city is managing expectations.
“We want people to know what the new plan is. We don’t want them to think that it is the old plan,” said Jon Ewing, a spokesperson for Denver Human Services. “We know that often things are miscommunicated to folks before they ever arrive in Denver. We also know there’s a large number of people who arrive in Denver knowing nothing about Denver, having never intended to come to Denver.”
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The city is limiting shelter stays to no more than 72 hours as it focuses on helping people through its Asylum Seekers Program.
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Aguilar will spend about a month in El Paso. She wasn’t available for an interview on Thursday but Ewing, who is one of her colleagues, said Aguilar will meet with immigrants as well as nonprofit leaders while in Texas.
“What we wanted to do is go down there, have a conversation with folks on the ground in El Paso, and say, “What are people being told? What are they hearing before they even arrive in this country?” And see where the disconnect lies,” Ewing said.
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Even though immigrants have put a strain on the city’s budget, Ewing said Aguilar’s visit to El Paso is not necessarily meant to discourage immigrants from coming to Denver. But it’s not meant to encourage them to come either.
“We don’t want to encourage people to come here and think that they’re getting six weeks of travel or six weeks of stay, that’s for sure,” Ewing said. “But no, it is not a means of discouraging people.”
Sarah Plastino, director of Denver’s Newcomer Program, said Aguilar will also meet with government officials in El Paso.
“She is a native Spanish speaker. She will be working on the ground with stakeholders, newcomers and government officials in El Paso to coordinate and inform people of our policy change and develop stronger relationships with people on the ground,” Plastino said.
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Ewing said Aguilar made a short visit to El Paso after Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced the city’s new strategy earlier this month. Plastino said Aguilar has been provided with a desk in the migrant reception center in El Paso. Information about Denver’s new strategy is posted in the reception center and throughout bus terminals.
“We want those folks to have accurate information so that they can make the best decisions for themselves,” said Plastino.
Aguilar will leave for El Paso on Saturday.
Since December 2022, Denver has spent nearly $70 million providing support to over 41,000 new immigrants.
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The battle over Denver’s Flock camera surveillance system escalated Tuesday with nine Denver City Council members asking the city auditor to step in and essentially block Mayor Mike Johnston’s proposed extension of a contract with Flock.
In a letter dated Oct. 25 and obtained by CBS News Colorado, the nine council members asked Denver City Auditor Tim O’Brien to not sign a five month contract extension with Flock that Johnston announced last week.
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“We have serious concerns about Flock Group Inc’s ethics, transparency and credibility,” reads the council letter. “We do not believe the City and County of Denver should continue doing business with a company that has demonstrated such disregard for honesty and accountability.”
The council members accuse Johnston of deliberately evading city council oversight of the Flock agreement by violating city contracting rules.
Last week, the Mayor announced he was unilaterally extending Flock’s camera contract with Denver through early 2026, with measures in place to prevent federal authorities from accessing data from Denver’s Flock cameras.
In response to the city council letter, a spokesperson for Johnston on Tuesday released a statement saying, “It is the Mayor’s job to keep the city safe. License plate readers do just that, and there is nothing about this no-cost extension that is beyond the scope of the Mayor’s responsibilities or authority.”
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Auditor Tim O’Brien said on Tuesday he would perform due diligence “by considering whether this contract is intentionally split in violation of city contracting rules and assessing if it subverted City Council’s independent oversight.”
Some city council members have expressed privacy concerns around the use of the cameras.
Denver City Council’s Health and Safety Committee is planning to discuss the Flock issue again on Wednesday with an update scheduled on the Surveillance Task Force.
A police officer, a suspect, and two gas station clerks have been injured in a police shooting on Monday night, according to the Denver Police Department.
Few details were immediately available, but the department posted about the shooting on social media just before 9:45 p.m. that the shooting happened in the 3200 Block of South Parker Road, near Interstate 225 by the border with Aurora.
At 10:25 p.m., the department provided an update, saying officers responded to reports of an armed robbery at a gas station. Officers shot the suspect, who was taken to a hospital in critical condition, and one officer was shot, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries. Two store clerks were also shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, the department said.
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Denver police cars were seen outside Denver Health the night of Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, after the Denver Police Department said an officer and a suspect were injured in a shooting near South Parker Road and Interstate 225.
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There was a large police presence at Denver Health, following the shooting, with patrol cars outside the emergency room with lights flashing.
Denver Nuggets (1-1, ninth in the Western Conference) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (2-1, fifth in the Western Conference)
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Minneapolis; Monday, 9:30 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Nuggets -4.5; over/under is 228.5
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota hosts Denver in a matchup of Western Conference teams.
Minnesota went 49-33 overall, 33-19 in Western Conference games and 25-16 at home during the 2024-25 season. The Timberwolves averaged 8.0 steals, 5.0 blocks and 13.7 turnovers per game last season.
Denver finished 50-32 overall and 8-8 in Northwest Division action during the 2024-25 season. The Nuggets averaged 17.0 points off of turnovers, 14.4 second-chance points and 26.4 bench points last season.
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INJURIES: Timberwolves: Rob Dillingham: day to day (nasal).
Nuggets: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
