TUKWILA, Wash. — A group of refugees who had been sheltering outside a church in Tukwila called a news conference Friday to decry conditions in the camp and call for the state, federal government and county to fund better temporary shelter and permanent housing, along with providing healthcare, work permits, job services and immigration attorneys.
The group, Hands United for Solidarity, was joined by advocates from the International Migrants Alliance.
For over a year, the Riverton Park United Methodist Church has allowed people to sleep inside and outside. Pastor Jan Bolerjack says it started when police officers asked if she could help a family who had been sleeping outside. Word spread and the number of people sheltering there grew, with aid offered based on community donations and volunteers.
But as cold temperatures descended during the fall and winter months, refugees at the news conference say they suffered the weather while sleeping outside, along with illnesses, poor conditions, bugs, a lack of healthcare and no end in sight. The church raised money to put them in hotels during this stretch of dangerous temperatures, but the group says they refuse to return to the camp, claiming it's unsafe and unsanitary.
"With the extreme cold, we were brought here to better conditions, but now they want to put us back in those conditions that were not good," one speaker shared.
Pastor Bolerjack said Tuesday she understands their concerns and why no one would want to be outside in cold, wet conditions, but that the church has received little government aid and is just trying to offer the help it can on a grassroots level. She confirmed some of the refugees have been housed in hotels through a county program but says before the cold snap, there were still about 250 people in need. The refugees come from a number of different countries and were given the church's contact information as a place to stay -- but it is not run through any government contract or publicly funded program. The city of Tukwila is currently considering an ordinance that would restrict camping in the city and could essentially make the church site illegal.
Speakers at the news conference said they do not plan to return to the church site and are seeking donations to stay in temporary housing for now. But they especially call on elected officials to find temporary housing, permanent housing solutions, work permits and jobs, affordable or free medical visits, orthodontic and dental care, and pro bono or affordable legal assistance.
"We believe the state of Washington, the government of Tukwila and the United States are able to help us and we're really asking for that," one speaker shared. "We're asking for safe, long-term and sanitary housing."
The speakers shared that many refugees and asylum seekers did not want to leave their home countries but instead were pushed out by violence, poverty, and other problems they say were exacerbated by U.S. interference.
A spokesperson for the Office of King County Executive Dow Constantine shared that as of last week, the county had housed 304 people in around 100 hotel rooms, citing $3 million in funding for housing. The county says its Department of Community and Human Services is contracting with Thrive International to move people into hotels, and that moves began in mid-November with priority for pregnant people and families with young children.
Press Secretary Mike Faulk with the Governor's office noted that it is "one of many partners engaged on this issue, but for our part, we can only work with the resources we have in the budget and help connect people with other resources."
He said the governor's supplemental budget increases funding for programs supporting refugees and asylum seekers, including $5 million for the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance and $3 million for a grant program, but those funds wouldn't be available until the summer.
"The governor, of course, has aggressively pursued investments in new housing and rapid capital acquisition, but we need to keep increasing those investments if we’re going to get housing that meets the scale of the need statewide," Faulk wrote.
He said that, notably, there isn't a federal financial program that specifically supports asylum seekers.
A staff member for the office of Rep. Adam Smith says on Nov. 9, 2023, the office sent a letter to FEMA urging the agency to include funding through the Shelter and Services Program. That funding is contingent on Department of Homeland Security appropriations still being discussed. According to the staff member, the Biden administration has requested $1.4 billion more for FEMA's SSP, and Rep. Smith will continue to advocate for the appropriations bills to be passed by Congress and signed into law to make funding available.