Seattle fails asylum seekers, housing agreement in limbo

Asylum seekers left in limbo as City of Seattle fails to uphold housing agreement

Asylum seekers in Seattle face yet another bout of uncertainty as the city fails to fulfill its end of a housing agreement, leaving families potentially out on the streets once more.

SEATTLE - Asylum seekers in Seattle face yet another bout of uncertainty as the city fails to fulfill its end of a housing agreement, leaving families potentially out on the streets once more.

The owner of the Quality Inn in Kent, where the asylum seekers have been housed, claims he has not received any payment for their current stay, alleging exploitation by the city.

Eli Min, owner of the Quality Inn, expressed his frustration, stating, "I feel used, I feel manipulated, and I especially just feel terrible for these families because they're traumatized."

Families, along with Min, held a press conference Thursday urging the city to honor its promises. Refugees are thankful for Min; he’s stepped-up housing them on and off since January as their funding has run out multiple times. They were forced to be back out on the streets or left to camp out at Powell Barnett Park just last week.

Hundreds of asylum seekers have spent a week at Powell Barnett Park in Seattle's Central District after funding for their accommodations at a local hotel expired. (FOX 13 Seattle)

Mayguadlidad Alvarez, a single woman seeking asylum from Venezuela, described the situation as traumatic, particularly for the children left to weather the rain and cold temperatures on top of the instability.

Neighbors in the Leschi neighborhood raised health concerns affecting parkgoers. Looking for solutions, Min says the City of Seattle reached out to him with a verbal agreement to house families at his hotel.

The agreement was for at least 40 rooms to house families with children through July 1st. Min says because of his relationship with the asylees, he was flexible. He trusted the City of Seattle and expedited the process — getting folks out of the park and into shelter, without having a contract in hand or signed.

"Now that they've gotten them out of the park and into the hotel, they have totally switched up that agreement and is not honoring what they told me originally," Min said. Despite the verbal agreement with the city, Min emphasized that without a signed contract, there's no financial support, ultimately leading to potential evictions.

"I have built relationships with a lot of families, met and played with their children," Min said. "They've told me their history and their travels from their countries." Making it very difficult for him to make tough business decisions.

"Now I have to go tell them that that's not the case and that possibly they'll have to move out again very soon, and I'm not even being told how soon that is," Min said.

Min is disappointed and frustrated with the city as he says they're now working on a six-day contract – making the new deadline Monday.

FOX 13 reached out to the City of Seattle on Min's allegations. A spokesperson sent us a statement saying:

"We are fully committed to funding hotel stays for the 45 families we have been engaged with until at least June 30. The exact details of that housing and shelter arrangement, in terms of location, may be adjusted. We fully empathize with the frustration and confusion of the families. They have our strong commitment that they will be housed as promised. For the safety and privacy of the families, we are not sharing details of locations. This situation is fluid, and we will provide updates as available."

Jonathon, a Congolese asylum seeker, emphasized their reliance on the city to fulfill its promises to Min saying they don't want to leave their community in Kent where children have started schooling and folks have grown accustomed to it.

We're told that an eviction is scheduled for Friday morning.