Asylum-Seekers Camp Again After Losing Hotel Shelter

by Guy Oron

(This article was originally published on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)

Hundreds of asylum-seekers were once again camping in tents after they lost their shelter for a second time in a month. After their stay at a Quality Inn hotel in Kent expired on April 29, the migrants decided to set up camp in Seattle's Central District.

The same group had previously camped at the Garfield Community Center tennis court for two days before receiving two private donations that allowed them to extend their hotel stay through the end of the month. The asylum-seekers initially tried to camp at the same tennis court but found it padlocked. They then relocated to the nearby Powell Barnett Park, a grassy field off Martin Luther King Jr. Way. After a week of sleeping outdoors, the migrants obtained shelter once again, with the camp officially closing on May 6.

In addition to those who had been staying in Kent, the encampment attracted other unsheltered asylum-seekers throughout the Seattle region. By May 2, organizers of the camp estimated it had grown to about 300 to 400 residents, with around 80 tents pitched on the field. Most of the residents are from Venezuela, Angola, or the Congo and have fled conflicts and disasters; many are families with young children.

Unlike the previous time the asylum-seekers camped in the Central District, no one was there to quickly bail them out. In an April 30 email to Real Change, Karissa Braxton, a senior communications advisor for Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, wrote that the City had exhausted all its funds that could be used to open up emergency shelters. However, the City appeared to locate funds over the following week. On May 7, Braxton wrote in a follow-up message that Seattle funded hotel stays for the last 45 families living in the camp, numbering about 185 people, through June 30. Most of those hotel rooms are at the Kent Quality Inn, with the rest at a hotel in SeaTac.

Meanwhile, funding from King County slowly reached camp residents. On April 17, the County announced $2 million in awards to four nonprofit service providers: the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Lutheran Community Services Northwest, the Refugee Women's Alliance and Coalicin—Dignidad Migrante. According to King County spokesperson Kristin Elia, the contracts are still being finalized and funding will be reimbursed by mid May.

Some of the $750,000 routed through the Refugee Women's Alliance is going to the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI). LIHI executive director Sharon Lee said the organization gave 43 asylum-seekers one-year subsidized leases in the organization's new apartment building John Fox Place in North Seattle. LIHI plans to lease out 10 more units to asylum-seekers in the new Good Shepherd apartment building, which is opening May 29. Lee said the organization is also renting hotel rooms for three months to about 100 asylum-seekers.

More money is on its way after the Washington State Legislature allocated $32.7 million to the Department of Health and Human Services, King County, and the City of Tukwila to aid asylum-seekers and refugees. However, this money will only become available after July 1, when the new fiscal year begins.

In the meantime, asylum-seekers at the camp had formed three grassroots organizations — Comunidad Sin Fronteras, Movimiento Congo-Angola, and Aliana de Acolhimento Solidaridad — to advocate for stable housing and other necessities. Together with mutual aid collectives, the organizations have testified at city and county council meetings as well as lobbied in Olympia over the last few months. This activism has resulted in a steady stream of food, toiletries, and other lodging supplies donated by community members. Volunteers also came to help with childcare and connect people with primary health care.

Don Tsaty, a camp resident originally from the Republic of the Congo, arrived in the Seattle area with his pregnant wife and three kids on March 11. The family had been living at the Quality Inn before they were evicted on April 29. Don said he hoped they can secure stable housing and build a new life in the U.S.

"Yes, it's true everywhere has problems, but at least you need peace," Tsaty said. "You feel limitless [being] here. It's an opportunity also for our kids to have a better education that we don't have in our country."

Before moving to the U.S., Tsaty was an accountant and small business owner in Brazzaville. He said he left his country to seek safety. Since moving to Powell Barnett Park, his children were unable to go to their new schools in Kent due to a lack of transportation.

Residents of the encampment set up a makeshift kitchen to cook food using a grill. Carolina, who is originally from Venezuela and became something of a head chef for the camp, has helped prepare pasta and other meals for her fellow migrants. She said donations from the community have fulfilled their needs so far.

With rainy spring weather approaching, camp residents said they hoped to receive housing soon so they can have a warm place to sleep and start making a new life for themselves.

This article has been updated with new information sent to Real Change from the Seattle Mayor's Office after press time.

📸 Featured Image: Asylum-seekers hastily erected tents at Powell Barnett Park in the Central District on the afternoon of April 29 after their hotel stay in Kent ran out. At one point, 300 to 400 people were living at the park in tents. (Photo: Guy Oron, courtesy of Real Change)