She traveled through nine countries to Denver: unhoused migrants share their stories

Roxana Maguiñia and her son, Hendrix, 8, traveled for three months from Peru to Denver. They now live in the encampments near Speer Boulevard, along with over 200 other migrants.

Starting in the summer of last year, the Texas governor, Greg Abbot, began sending buses full of migrants to cities democratically led cities, including Washington, DC. Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Denver.

Since then, around 30,000 migrants have shown up in buses around Denver. Many are children and single parents– some made the trip alone—others with family members.

Former Mayor Michael Hancock declared a state of emergency last year, calling on local governments to unite and provide resources for the migrants. So far, Denver has spent more than $35 million on facilities, personnel, and other resources.

Even so, thousands remain unhoused, living in encampments around Denver. KGNU’s Ivonne Olivas visited one of the camps last week and has this story.

She traveled through nine countries to Denver: unhoused migrants share their stories Alexis Kenyon

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Alexis Kenyon

Alexis Kenyon is an experienced radio reporter with more than 15 years of experience creating compelling, sound-rich radio stories for news outlets across the country. Kenyon has master's degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism in radio broadcast and photojournalism. She has worked in KGNU's news department since 2021 as a reporter, editor, and daily news producer. In all her work, she strives to produce thought-provoking, trustworthy journalism that makes other people's stories feel personal. In addition to audio production, Kenyon runs KGNU's news internship program and oversees the department's digital engagement.