Immigrants & Refugees

Information on Transportation, Travel Training, & More

Looking to start the process of learning about citizenship and how to apply for a Visa? Start your journey here.

DRMAC’s mission is mobility for all. With this mission in mind DRMAC strives to help immigrant and refugee residents in the Denver metro area find transportation resources. We recognize that many cultures honor and care for their elders at home who are also in need of transportation options to live an independent lifestyle. This is where DRMAC becomes a resource for your many unique needs.

Click here to find our Getting There Guide in multiple languages

A huge thanks to our partners in this program!

Lyft

DRMAC’s Metro Area Travel Training Program (MATT)

Interested in becoming more comfortable with riding buses, trains, scooters, and bikes?

The goal of this program is to reduce traffic congestion, Single Occupancy Vehicle (SOV) travel, as well as improve air quality in the region. We want to increase ridership of RTD’s fixed-route services, mitigate ridership from Paratransit Services, and promote alternative mobility options such as scooters and bikes. Our targeted population are those who have limited experience using public transit. This includes but is not limited to community groups of various abilities, ages, social economic, racial, and ethnic identities who would benefit from alternative mobility options.

Join the Denver Regional Mobility & Access Council (DRMAC) in the MATT program. We’ve partnered with RTD and Lyft to teach you how to feel confident getting around Denver with public transportation options. Contact our Program Manager, Latoya Prante (lprante@drmac-co.org), to sign you or a group up for trainings starting in July.

Relevant News

picture of Haile Degena

Haile Degena found Denver and made his fortune

Haile Degena taught math and English to refugees when he lived in Sudan. Originally from an area that’s now called Eritrea, he didn’t really consider teaching when he moved to the United States in 1986.
Front line worker

Tracking Coronavirus As It Spreads Through Latino Communities In Telluride Exposes Health Care Inequities

Early in the pandemic, Ximena Rebolledo León, a registered nurse at Telluride Regional Medical Center in southwestern Colorado, needed to find everyone who’d been in contact with a sick Latino worker whose boss had told him he would lose…
Nga Vuong-Sandoval Mural

Detour has a new mural welcoming refugees and immigrants. Here’s where to find it

It’s in Five Points and it’s of Nga Vuong-Sandoval, a refugee who fled Vietnam with her family as a child — and who now advocates for the rights of other refugees and immigrants.
Two South Asian Women

Nov 19th – Energized By Kamala Harris’ Win, South Asian Coloradans Hope To Increase Representation In State And Local Politics, Too

Maha Mahalingam moved from South India to the United States in 1980 and began graduate school. She was only 22 at the time and eventually moved to Colorado, where she settled with her family in Aurora.
DRCOG Logo

Nov 18th – Colorado Refugee Resources

Picture of Iman Jodeh

Nov 17th – Aurora’s Iman Jodeh Makes History Becoming First Muslim Lawmaker In Colorado

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – Iman Jodeh is ready to make the American dream a reality for all. She’s making history as the first Muslim lawmaker in the state of Colorado.

Nov 6th – Immigrant & Refugee Services

Search for Services that Meet Your Needs.
City of Denver logo

September 23rd – Human Rights and Community Partnership

Great resources for other connections in Denver!

September 15th – Dia de Los Muertos in the midst of COVID-19

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Latino communities across the country have been hit the hardest by COVID-19. In Travis County, where Austin is located, Latinos account for half of deaths but only account for about 35% of the population, as of the end of …

September 8th – New study reveals Latinos are transforming cultural connections during COVID-19

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As one of the groups to feel the disproportionate effects of job loss and health impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic, Latinos have come to rely on media and social channels more than ever to educate, inform, and entertain.…

August 20th – New guidance for protecting migrant workers during the coronavirus pandemic

Migrant workers are a crucial part of the global workforce, accounting for 3.5 per cent of the world’s population, according to IOM. Worldwide, micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises, rely on them, including sectors providing essential…

August 5th – Immigration agency pushes back 13,000 furloughs until the end of August

(CNN)US Immigration and Citizenship Services, the federal agency responsible for legal immigration processing, pushed back a planned furlough date for more than half of its workforce until August 31. The immigration agency previously…

July 27th – Coronavirus Makes New US Citizens Trade Courthouse Ceremony For Parking Lot

Shutdowns and furloughs at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services mean longer wait times for applicants looking to become citizens. Immigration lawyer Beatriz Lynch said her clients’ progress through the immigration system is taking…

July 20th – Federal court strikes down Trump’s asylum ban

A federal judge in Washington struck down a Trump administration rule that would require migrants seeking to enter the U.S. to first seek asylum in countries they travel through on their way to the southern border.

June 24th – Legal Community Says Immigration Court Reopening Lacks Transparency, Safety Measures

(CN) — Plans to resume immigration court hearings for non-detained defendants at a handful of courts across the country lack safety measures necessary to prevent the spread of Covid-19, immigration judges and attorneys told Courthouse News…

June 23rd – Businesses Brace for Possible Limits on Foreign Worker Visas

Maya Nasr was admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 16 to study aerospace engineering. Currently a doctoral student there, she has been working on NASA’s next Mars rover, slated for launch this summer.

June 22nd – U.S./Mexico travel restrictions extended through July 21

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Travel restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border will be extended an additional month, officials from both countries confirmed this morning. The restrictions in place since March 21 apply to non-essential…

June 19th – Denver paleta salesman overwhelmed by community support after he was brutally beaten

DENVER — The community pulled together thousands of dollars to help a paleta man after he was beaten unconscious earlier this month. Antonio Ramirez-Chavez, 64, was beaten on Thursday, June 11 by several suspects after selling paletas (Mexican-style…

June 16th – Help, protection sought for Colorado’s immigrants amid pandemic

Immigrant advocates are working with Colorado lawmakers to provide relief to vulnerable families during the coronavirus crisis. Activists from the Colorado People’s Alliance are asking state leaders to provide cash assistance for undocumented…

June 15th – Gov. Jared Polis prohibits state agencies from sharing information for civil immigration enforcement

Gov. Jared Polis issued a directive this week to his departments and state agencies barring them from sharing information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for civil enforcement.

My 28th – New Refugees Struggle to Find Footing in US During Pandemic

Starting a new life in the U.S. is never easy for refugees, but doing it during a pandemic has created more struggles.

May 26th – Information from the Office of Immigrant & Refugee Affairs

The Denver Office of Immigrant & Refugee Affairs promotes greater awareness and integration of immigrant and refugee residents in Denver. We partner with nonprofits, community based organizations, residents and government agencies to develop…