After providers and advocates spent months pleading for help addressing the state's growing asylum-seeker crisis, the Washington Legislature responded late last week by setting aside more than $32 million in the updated state budget to support new arrivals to the state.
More than $25 million is poised to go to the state's Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, followed by $5 million to King County and $2.5 million to the city of Tukwila, which is home to Riverton Park United Methodist Church. The money for the state office of refugees is specifically to serve "individuals newly arriving to the United States and Washington" who do not qualify for federal aid, according to the budget's language.
This investment would work alongside House Bill 2368, which passed this session. It gives the refugee office authority to provide direct aid to asylum-seekers who don't qualify for federal refugee resettlement services.
Due to federal regulations, people seeking asylum in the U.S. have to wait months to receive a work permit, which leaves the recent influx of arrivals without a way to earn money and pay for housing for an extended period.
"I think that's part of the state's role, is to help signal to all of those partners that the state is there to help," said Rep. Mia Gregerson, D-SeaTac, who sponsored HB 2368.
Both HB 2368 and the state budget await Gov. Jay Inslee's signature. According to Mike Faulk, spokesperson for the governor's office, the state budget is normally one of the last items to be signed because of its complexity.
Gov. Inslee has until March 30 to sign all bills.
"These funds have the benefit of helping asylum-seekers while essentially expanding local housing services," Faulk said of the passed asylum-seeker aid. "The governor appreciates the Legislature's efforts to support our communities."
Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila, run by pastor Jan Bolerjack, began sheltering newly arrived migrants and asylum-seekers in December 2022. The church remains at the center of King County's asylum-seeker crisis, and new asylum-seekers — many coming from Venezuela and Angola — continue to show up at Bolerjack's doors asking for shelter.
By the middle of February, the church said more than 800 people have stayed on its property over the past year, but that's likely a large undercount with hundreds currently living there.
Additionally, hundreds of asylum-seekers who started in Tukwila are now spread across Airbnbs and hotels in South King County. As piecemeal funding from local governments and private donors runs out, some of these groups face regular threats of eviction.
Bolerjack could not be reached for comment in time for publication, but she told The Seattle Times in mid-February, "I thought we were just kind of holding it until someone else took it. No one's taken it yet."
If the final budget signed by the governor includes the funding, local governments and the state refugee office would have to wait until July 1 for the majority of the money to be disbursed. But Sarah Peterson, head of the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, said her office is already preparing.
Peterson said her office plans to have a series of listening sessions with affected community groups to understand needs.
"We look forward to working with the community to make responsible and dedicated investments to providing those services," Peterson said.
Peterson couldn't speak specifically to how this large investment would be used to alleviate the burden shouldered by the Riverton Park church, which is sheltering hundreds of asylum-seekers, including many families with children.
But she said, "we will definitely be targeting funding toward housing."
According to the budget, the $25.25 million in funding for the refugee office could also be used for food, transportation, legal services and other needs. And $1 million of it would go to school districts, such as Tukwila, that have seen a significant increase in homeless students seeking asylum.
"We hope that these funds serve as a baseline investment in creating the statewide infrastructure to help meet the basic needs of newly arrived migrants in Washington and support them in the initial stages of resettling," said Vanessa Reyes, policy manager for the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, which helped lobby for asylum-seeker aid during the recent 60-day session.
Separately, King County would receive $5 million through the Department of Commerce. Near the end of last year, the county began paying for 100 hotel rooms in SeaTac that have been fully occupied since Feb. 1. It estimates 350 people are living in them now and plans to use some of the state money to pay itself back for the $3 million it's already spent on the hotel project.
Chase Gallagher, spokesperson for the King County Executive's Office, said it's still figuring out how the additional dollars will be spent. Separate from the $5 million, King County wrapped up a request-for-proposal process this week, where it sought applications from local nonprofits to provide more direct support for the asylum-seeker population in South King County.
The city of Tukwila, with slightly more than 20,000 residents, would receive an additional $2.5 million in state funding "for costs incurred related to unsheltered, recently arrived individuals and families."
The city recently announced it would stand up a large tent on the property of the Riverton Park United Methodist Church to offer a warmer, vermin-less alternative to sleeping in individual camping tents. As of Friday, 42 people were living inside the tent — 24 adults and 18 children — according to Brad Harwood, spokesperson for the city of Tukwila.
The city estimates the tent project will cost more than $200,000 over the next six months.
"Our hope is to work with the state moving forward as it takes more of a lead in the response, including using the funds outlined for Tukwila in a coordinated effort," Harwood said.
"But the issue is bigger than one city, or county, and it's critical state officials take a more aggressive operational role," he added.
