(The Center Square) – More than 90 asylum seekers who have spent the last six weeks in an encampment along Central Avenue in Kent have been moved into apartment homes.
Dozens of others remain at the camp on the King County-owned property adjacent to State Route 167 and the Econo Lodge hotel.
“So far, LIHI (Low Income Housing Institute) has housed 93 people from the Kent location,” a spokesperson from the King County Executive’s Office emailed The Center Square. “This includes 22 families, 38 adults, and 55 children.”
According to King County, the relocation and ongoing support for the camp's residents will be funded by $5 million dedicated to the county during this year’s legislative session.
“We have allocated $1.2 million for services and housing for existing encampments, including the Econo Lodge site,” the spokesperson said. “Our work is a bridge until the state funding and programs are in place.”
State money may not be available until September.
The asylum seekers arrived in Washington from countries in Africa, Central America and South America and were initially set up in Tukwila at Riverton Park United Methodist Church. The church has helped more than 2,000 asylum seekers since 2022 after word spread quickly that it was willing to help.
“When the church in Tukwila opened up to them, that was a really significant signal to folks to come here,” Kent Mayor Dana Ralph told The Center Square.
The group moved to Quality Inn in Kent after the church in Tukwila became overcrowded, but that money, initially paid by a nonprofit, quickly ran out, and campers were forced to move to the current location in Kent.
Homeless advocates have been pressuring King County to open the shuttered Econo Lodge for asylum seekers. The county purchased the hotel during the COVID-19 pandemic for use as a quarantine facility.
Campers have attended Kent City Council meetings , urging the city to help open the hotel.
“The city of Kent does not own or control the property in question,” Ralph explained, “the hotel or the adjacent property.”
Ralph said neither the King Counties county nor cities in the southern portion of the county have the resources to provide housing. Several mayors have been pressuring Gov. Jay Inslee to get involved and begin the distribution of state funding sooner rather than later.
“Obtaining a permit for the former Econo Lodge is a longer-term option we are exploring,” the King County Executive’s Office spokesperson told The Center Square. “However, the County never planned to keep this building in our portfolio and has been in conversations about selling our lease on that site.”
Meanwhile, for those who remain at the Kent encampment, King County is paying for a security fence, portable bathrooms, hand washing stations and fresh water, as well as offering assistance with transportation and efforts to obtain identification and other documents.
Several charitable organizations arrive daily with food and other supplies.
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