A view of concourse A at Denver International Airport on May 11, 2021. (Courtesy of DIA)
This story originally appeared in Capital & Main .
Oscar, a 35-year-old Venezuelan man, sat on the floor of the San Diego International Airport, wondering how he was going to make it to Denver.
He had about $60, what was left of the money he had when he crossed the Mexican-U.S. border at a California port of entry on Jan. 4 for an appointment to request asylum. He’d checked the airfare before his asylum appointment and calculated he had enough to purchase a flight. But prices had climbed, and now he was hundreds of dollars short. His family waiting for him in Colorado didn’t have the money to help him.
He had already spent his first night on U.S. soil at the airport, and now he faced another.
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As the evening wore on, a woman approached him and asked if he wanted a sandwich. He was surprised to learn it was free. Then she asked if he already had a boarding pass.