Serving the community since 1926
WEEK OF JANUARY 23, 2025
VOLUME 98 | ISSUE 8
$2
Answering questions about immigration status Non-profit hosted informational session to calm fears BY JACKIE RAMIREZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
es on whether they’d like to establish a BID, and then that would initiate the city council process on whether to approve the special district. The BID proposal would need majority support. The BMA and proponents for the BID submitted a preliminary operating budget of just over $2 million to the council, but Luke Johnson, president of the BMA, said that number is expected to drop as the association continues to determine its needs. “The plan is to take this up again right after the first of the year and try to deal with some different issues and resolve it,” said William Feinberg, vice president of the BMA. “We’re trying to be as transparent as possible and have as much input from the people that it affects as possible.”
As President Donald Trump takes office for the second time, the nonprofit organization United Community Action Network of Metro Denver hosted an informative session in Spanish where attendees could obtain more information about resources in healthcare, real estate and immigration. The objective of the session was to help ease concerns about what the next presidential term may look like. About 20 guests took the chance to ask questions about their petitions and pending cases that would be affected. Arturo Jimenez, a Denver immigration lawyer of 25 years, was among the experts who addressed the group on Jan. 11 about the coming change in leadership at the White House. “We are preparing for what is to come with the new president on the 20th of January, has said that they will be more strict, conduct more raids and they will do everything within the president’s executive power regarding immigration,” Jimenez said. “We will perhaps be seeing more applications for residency, Temporary Protected Status, asylum, … for all the programs.” Jimenez said that folks will often come with questions regarding asylum, TPS, or obtaining residency through a child who recently turned 21 years old, but they don’t request more information on other options that can help adjust their immigration status, depending on the eligibility. Jimenez discussed several programs and petitions that can work toward adjusting status for people who are undocumented including the Petition U for Nonimmigrant status, which he called the “Visa U.” That petition is specified for victims of particular crimes, such as domestic violence, car accidents or armed robbery, to name some examples. “Many times when I have time with someone in my office, I will ask if they or their spouse or children have been a victim of a crime in the United States,” Jimenez said.
SEE BROADWAY, P8
SEE IMMIGRATION, P4
People cross the street at Broadway between 1st Avenue and Irvington Place. The Broadway Merchants Association recently submitted an appliPHOTO BY ERIC HEINZ cation with the city of Denver to establish a business improvement district, spanning from 6th Avenue to Ohio Avenue.
Broadway merchants look to establish business improvement district Coverage area would span from 6th to Ohio avenues BY ERIC HEINZ ERIC@COTLN.ORG
The area colloquially known as “South Broadway” has gone through many transformations over the years, yet it continues to be able to offer that specific liveliness that Denver wouldn’t be the same without. That’s where the Broadway Merchants Association (BMA) and its supporters come in. People on behalf of the BMA recently filed an application with the city of Denver to create a 1.7-mile corridor that would be a business improvement dis-
trict (BID), which would have businesses in the area pay into a fund that would establish more security presence, make improvements and help with promotions. Only properties within the BID would be subjected to the costs. More than 260 businesses and 176 commercial properties would be included in the BID, if it is approved by the city. The district would impose a mill, the amount of which will be determined later, among the businesses based on their assessed value and in return the businesses would get more security, money for maintenance, marketing and advertising, as well as operational funding. The mill submitted to the city was at 21, or $21 for every $1,000 of the assessed property value. The next step, coming in the next couple months, is to petition the business-
CALENDAR: 9 | VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12
DENVERHERALD.NET • A PUBLICATION OF COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA