With migrant services strained, city of Denver to activate Emergency Operations Center on Thursday

There was a stark difference on Tuesday at a Denver parking garage where migrants are being served, compared to what the situation looked like on Monday, amid the surge of migrants the city has seen over the past few days.

"Well, I think today food and water suddenly showed up, thanks to the cameras, thanks to the news stations," said Rafael Ramos, who's from Venezuela and has been waiting for help since Sunday. He's on his way to Canada.  

Tuesday also brought resources like medical services and security to the campus as hundreds of migrants continue to wait to be processed, hoping to get help from the city of Denver to either stay in Denver or go to their next destination.

"The day I got here, we were cold, we were hungry, because not even a blanket was given to us," said 18-year-old Yaneidys Martinez, who is from Venezuela and arrived in Denver on Saturday. "But now, we finally got a bus ticket."

Matinez's final destination is Atlanta.

Since Thursday, the city is seeing a daily average of around 200 migrants, compared to the 20 to 30 migrants they were seeing per day from March through April.

RELATED: As hundreds of migrants arrive, city of Denver unprepared for influx

The city has opened four shelters to house migrants while they're in transit, but all of them are at capacity. City officials are currently having conversations to discuss how to open additional shelters, but they're concerned with how they will staff those facilities. Mikayla Ortega, a city spokesperson, said on Thursday the city will activate its Emergency Operations Center, to provide more resources for the migrant situation.

Monday's chaos left many questioning why the city wasn't prepared, being that the expiration of Title 42 has been known for months. Title 42 is a Trump era policy that allowed the refusal of migrants into the country because of COVID-19 pandemic.

"I definitely think the city has dropped the ball on supporting folks," said Ian Pham, an organizer with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.

CBS News Colorado asked Ortega whether the situation Monday was handled well. Ortega replied, "No, I didn't say it was handled well. I will say that we were able to do what we could with what we had."

But advocates like Pham said despite the city knowing of the evolving situation since December, they've made little effort to coordinate services and resources with local groups and shelters.

"They are choosing to restrict these resources, and that is the problem here, is that we can house folks, we can give them what they need in order to have a safe place to sleep," Pham said.

Pham said even organizations like his are unaware of who is coordinating necessities for migrants or where people can go do give donations. "Even we're out of the loop," he added.

Ortega said the city has spent over $14 million on migrant services, continuing to strain resources, and without immediate federal support, there will be gaps in assistance.

"We'd love if we can serve every single person we just are limited in what we can do because we don't have the resources and the ability to do it," Ortega said.

The city is continuing to request the faith-based community to provide overnight sheltering for migrant guests who are scheduled to leave Denver the next day. If you can help, please email Charles.Gilford@denvergov.org.