DENVER — A busload of migrants was dropped off outside the Colorado Capitol building in Denver on Monday morning in what a city official believes is the latest in a wave of buses chartered by the Texas state government.
It’s unclear how many people were on the bus. Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat who was at the Capitol as the bus was unloading about 8:30 a.m., estimated the number of people onboard at 40 to 50. She directed them into the building to get warm while officials coordinated the next steps.
Gonzales said some of the migrants told her they’d come from Eagle Pass, a Texas town near the border with Mexico. Evan Dreyer, a deputy chief of staff to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, said he hadn’t received confirmation about the circumstances of the bus trip but that it matched a recent pattern of buses arriving from the border state.
“The state of Texas, the governor’s office, has contracted with two or three different bus companies to transport migrants out of Texas to various locations around the country, Denver being one of those locations,” Dreyer said. “That’s our understanding, and that’s how this has operated for several months. Denver has received more than 200 charter buses direct from Texas over the last six months.”
Spokespersons for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott were not immediately available for comment.