Church forced to turn away asylum seekers

SEATTLE — As hundreds of asylum-seekers faced the threat of sleeping outside this week, the asylum-seeker crisis in Washington state’s King County reached a new, more serious stage.

For the past 16 months — since the crisis began — Tukwila’s Riverton Park United Methodist Church has consistently provided shelter to families seeking asylum in King County when no one else has. Until now.

Starting two weeks ago, Pastor Jan Bolerjack, head of the church, began turning families away, even families with young children, because the church’s interior and surrounding grounds are at capacity, she said.

“We are over capacity,” Bolerjack said. “We have people sleeping in every corner that we could find.”

Additionally, hundreds of asylum-seekers who have been living in private rentals and at the Kent Quality Inn Hotel are facing the threat of sleeping outside, many with children, as donations to cover their stays have run out.

On Tuesday morning, about 100 people facing eviction attended King County’s health and human services committee meeting to demand that someone take action to help provide temporary housing. One of the group leaders, Adriana Medina, said those without a place to stay are gathering supplies to sleep in a Seattle city park if other housing does not materialize.

“There’s no other option,” she said, standing a block away from the King County Courthouse.

The recent surge in asylumseekers — more than 1,000 people have registered with the Tukwila church since April of last year — has created a great need for temporary housing. Asylumseekers can’t legally work and earn money to pay for housing while they wait months for the federal government to approve work permits.

So far, local government leaders have not offered immediate solutions to fill the gaps. In the meantime, more and more families are likely to become dispersed across the county without a safe place to sleep at night.

Most officials have pointed to more than $32 million in state funding, included in the new adjusted state operating budget signed by Governor Jay Inslee last week, as a potential solution. But the vast majority of that funding will not be available for three months.

“The City of Seattle understands the urgency and severity of housing needs for the migrant individuals and families who are staying in Kent,” said Rodha Sheikh, finance and operations manager for the Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. “We urge the group to work with the state of Washington, who have the authority and resources to address this ongoing humanitarian need.”

At the same time, the state Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance said state funding is unavailable to cover extended housing costs for now.

“Unfortunately, state funding to support this work is not available until July 1, 2024,” said Sarah Peterson, head of the state Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance. That’s because the state legislature allocated most of it for next year’s fiscal budget, which begins July 1.

More and more families are arriving at Bolerjack’s door, pleading for help.

“Today, I’ve already told 10 people that they need to leave,” Bolerjack said from a small room lined with books that functions both as the church’s library and as sleeping quarters for about seven people.

“They just looked at me like: ‘Where am I going to go?’

“And I say, ‘I don’t know, but you can’t stay here,’ ” Bolerjack said.