Deadline reached for Kent asylum seekers, no police action

Deadline passes without police action in Kent encampment

The deadline has come and gone for asylum seekers to clear out an encampment in Kent.

KENT, Wash. - The deadline has come and gone for asylum seekers to clear out an encampment in Kent.

More than 60 tents remain standing next to the Econo Lodge in Kent, a vacant hotel last used in 2020 as King County's COVID-19 quarantine facility, and which asylum seekers are begging the county to reopen for temporary housing.

County officials gave them 48 hours to vacate, and community members showed up in force to help them when the deadline arrived Tuesday afternoon.

Mere hours before the 3:00 p.m. deadline, people lined up for food and goods donated by the community.

"My biggest dream is to make things right, me and my family," said Nigerian asylum seeker Chobizu Robinson, who arrived in Seattle a month ago seeking citizenship.

When Robinson needed shelter, he turned to Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila, only to face even more hardships.

"[The] church sent us away because of [all the] people there, they don't have registration," said Robinson.

FOX 13 News reached out to pastor Jan Bolerjack at the Riverton Park Methodist church, who said she is entirely out of space, and while everyone deserves a chance, she can’t house everyone. Bolerjack hopes other nonprofits will step up.

"But it's not actually [because] they can't accommodate us, because they have more space, but I don't know what really happened," said Robinson. "They sent us away."

Robinson is now one of the 200 refugees who set up camp outside the Econo Lodge, located on Central Ave N just south of SR 167.

FOX 13 News spoke to Jonathan, a Congolese asylum seeker who is pleading the county to open the former Econo Lodge, which he says could easily house all of them temporarily. He said this is a humanitarian emergency.

The asylum seekers were given a 48-hour notice in English — which the majority do not speak — to vacate the property or risk being arrested for trespassing.

"Police might come get everybody arrested and send us back to our country. That’s not our dream," said Robinson.

Supporters arrived carrying signs that read "Stop the sweeps," "Open the Econo Lodge," pleading for "dignified housing" and calling on President Biden to step in. Federal funding should be available in July, yet the priority has been families with children, some of whom are still here, not single adults.

Some of the asylum seekers doubt they will ever see that money.

Jonathan told FOX 13 News he has seen it firsthand. He said it took four months to get $2 million available in February — $30 million will take three years.