Urgent need for resources as more than 300 migrants seek asylum at Tukwila church

TUKWILA, Wash. - Every day, a large influx of people seek asylum in the U.S., including Washington.

These are migrants who were lawfully admitted into the U.S. by the federal government and are waiting for adjudication of their asylum request. 

It’s been nearly one month since City of Tukwila proclaimed a state of emergency to address the surge in people. However, the help from state and federal government has been slow.

Now, the Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila is doing all it can to offer some help for the asylum seekers.

"The stories of these folks leaving their homeland is atrocious. What they’ve gone through is so traumatic," said Pastor Jan Bolerjack. "These folks have gone through a lot of trauma in their lives and I just don’t want them landing here to be just one more trauma."

More than 300 people are now camped in tents outside the church after fleeing governmental abuses in the homeland, including arbitrary imprisonment and human rights violations. About half of the asylum seekers are from Venezuela and the other half are from Angola.

"The Angolans fly to Brazil and then travel up on foot or by bus to our southern border. [They] cross the southern border and then ask for asylum because they have a threat, they can’t go back to their country," said Bolerjack.

Volunteers are helping the church feed and clothe the migrants as they try to find a place to stay indoors. However, the challenge is the region is already dealing with a homelessness crisis, and most shelters are full.

Bolerjack said setting tents on the church’s soccer field was only supposed to be a short-term solution, but asylum seekers continue showing up.

"When there’s a family that shows up, like they did this morning with young children, I can’t say no. It’s not in my heart to say no. It’s not in the heart of my staff to say no," said Bolerjack. "Our problem is that we don’t have any outflow. There’s no place to house them. There’s no housing, there’s no way to move them into a more stable situation."

"The need is urgent, and the need is now," said Nora Gierloff, community development director for City of Tukwila. "This is a local instance of a national situation where destination cities have just been overwhelmed by these needs."

On Oct. 6, City of Tukwila declared a state of emergency, requesting funding and resources from state and federal government to address the influx of asylum seekers. Almost one month since the proclamation was issued and Gierloff said Tuwkila hasn’t received many answers. 

"We heard that the state of emergency would help us to get some regional resources flowing," said Gierloff. "We are meeting regularly with a pretty broad range of service providers, different levels of state and local governments. We have not found the big solution yet, but we’re hoping that that’s moving forward." 

While the city continues trying to get help from state and federal leaders, volunteers are helping dozens of people translate and fill out 20 pages of paperwork.

"They are not able to work because they are asylum seekers. They’re working on getting their paperwork in so that they can actually get a work permit in a few months. But until then, they’re just kind of stuck," said Bolerjack. "So, my volunteers working on the immigration paperwork are getting these out as fast as they can."

In the meantime, the pastor said the community has been a big help filling in the gaps with volunteering, donating money, food, clothing and basic toiletries. The city said it’s also supporting the church with some technical assistance.

"Tukwila is a great number of immigrants and refugees. So, we have so much empathy for the plight of these asylum seekers. And we’re really trying to find the best solution for them," said Gierloff.