Venezuelan migrants share stories of dangerous journey to Denver

Black ropes create a winding line that has taken over the airy lobby of a city building. Signs in Spanish tell the arriving migrants, almost all of them from Venezuela, where to stand:

“Parejas,” or couples, says one line. 

“Hombres solteros que se quedan en Denver,” or single men staying in Denver, says another. 

Four men with tired eyes sit on a bench beyond the processing line next to backpacks holding everything they carried on the monthslong journey from their home country, which is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. As they wait for word about where they will sleep, a Denver worker appears and hands two of them one-way bus tickets.

Fernando, who left Venezuela eight months ago and stopped to work construction in Mexico along the way,…