As King County moves to reopen Kent hotel for the unhoused, asylum-seekers hope they won’t be forgotten

King County is in the process of reopening a shuttered Econo Lodge hotel in Kent, once used to shelter unhoused people during the pandemic. But the asylum-seekers who have camped next to the hotel for several months are unlikely to benefit from its doors reopening.

Instead, it’ll likely be prioritized for people passing through the King County Regional Homeless Authority’s re-housing program. But that’s if the county successfully navigates the six-month permitting and funding process.

Meanwhile, the county expects an upcoming state migrant program to help house asylum-seekers before the hotel is operational. That’s according to an update from the King County Executive Office, read to asylum-seekers by county councilmember Girmay Zahilay at council chambers Tuesday.

“Millions of dollars have been invested and families have been relocated, and of course, not quickly enough,” Zahilay said. “And enough hasn’t happened but we continue to be committed to this issue and we thank you for coming here to make your voice heard about this really important topic.”

As asylum-seekers await help from the state, nonprofits, local governments, and mutual aid groups have helped fill some gaps by providing basic necessities and, at times, funding hotel stays.

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Asylum-seekers living outside say they’ve had to manage pest control with snakes and mosquitoes, and face inconsistent access to electricity, food storage, and private hygiene stations. They also say their tents are becoming damaged.

“We’re hoping in the name of God that they help us with our housing situation as soon as possible now that the cold is coming,” said Yasmin Terar, an asylum-seeker from Venezuela, on Tuesday.

The camp where Terar lives is inhabited by a mix of children and adults, mostly from Venezuela, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Among the newest families at the camp are 26-year-old Suslenny Velazco, her husband, and their 3-month-old baby girl, Naiara. They joined the camp Saturday after sleeping in a plaza in Seattle, Velazco said in Spanish.

“We’ve been from tent to tent until they told us about this place here,” she added.

Terar and Velazco hope that by next month, they won’t have to camp out.

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Amy Enbysk, a spokesperson for the King County Executive Office, said the county estimates that over 16,000 people experience homelessness locally and nearly 10,000 of them are unsheltered, many waiting in line through the county’s Coordinated Entry System.

The county expects a “hub and spoke” state program called the Washington Migrant and Asylum-Seeker Support Pilot Project (MASS) to house the asylum-seekers when it launches in September, well before the long-desired hotel is potentially operational. It will also provide case management and legal support for asylum-seekers.

But Sarah Peterson, the Washington State Refugee Coordinator said she doesn’t expect the program will be able to serve all of the asylum-seekers quickly enough.

“As service capacity in all spoke service areas begins to fill up, the hub will create a waiting list for people to access services as they become available,” she said.