Migrants Demand Housing After They Take Over Tennis Court

Migrants in Washington State left an encampment on a local tennis court after an unknown donor subsidized a temporary stay at a hotel. Now, they are demanding a long-term solution from the county.

The migrants who were on the court of the local Garfield Community Center in Kent, a city in Seattle’s metropolitan area located in southern King County, reportedly packed up their belongings on Thursday to return to a Quality Inn they were previously evicted from due to a lack of funds. They reportedly hail from Venezuela, the Republic of the Congo, and Angola.

A rally was held on Thursday, at which migrants pleaded for long-term solutions, including housing and work permits, according to KOMO News.

“Without having the stable housing that we’ve been asking for, of just even like two or three months of stability, it’s so hard for us to follow through with our asylum cases,” Venezuelan migrant Adrianna Figuera said.

A Kent city spokesperson confirmed the move to KOMO News, saying that a third round of funding for hotel stays was obtained from a source who King County Councilmember Sarah Perry said declined to be identified.

A spokesperson for the hotel also confirmed the rooms being rented out.

Newsweek reached out to local officials and the city of Kent via email for comment.

The migrants reportedly chose the tennis courts because they are in Kent, near the schools where some of their children attend.

Perry said the Quality Inn will “house as many people as possible,” adding that the donor is paying around $70 per night.

“While the city acknowledges the need for a solution, the City of Kent does not own or control any hotels or other housing that could be used to accommodate this group,” the statement said. “Cities like Kent are not in a financial position to address the immediate housing needs of these individuals, and we continue to implore the state and federal government to take steps to resolve this issue. In the meantime, the city will continue to monitor the situation.”

According to local reports, an anonymous donor paid $50,000 for migrants to return to the hotel and occupy 61 rooms for an 11-day period. About 150 migrants had set up tents on the green surface near Garfield High School, according to KUOW, Seattle’s NPR news station.

“We get temporary solutions like one week of housing, two more weeks of housing… and then after that, if we don’t continue to show up in person, our City Council officials and the King County officials end up ignoring us,” Rosario Lopez, a community organizer who works with migrants in King County, told KUOW.

One man from the Republic of the Congo told KOMO that this has been par for the course, saying: “This is how we live: with our clothes in our bags and our toothbrushes.”

“Our office is aware of the migrant asylum seekers who have set up an encampment at the Garfield Tennis Courts,” King County Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth (District 3) wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday. “We are working with the Mayor’s office, King County and service providers to address this situation immediately.”

Migrants in the Seattle metro area now have a reprieve, albeit temporary, after days of dead ends in terms of where they can stay.

According to reports, the same migrants at the tennis courts previously stayed at the Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila and have been in and out of the Kent Quality Inn as funding to keep them there ran out.

On Tuesday, migrants requested more assistance from the King County City Council but were denied.

Local CBS affiliate KIRO-TV reported that a translator on scene at the tennis courts iterated that the supposedly hundreds of migrants have inquired about long-term stays within the community, by way of legal documentation that would allow them to earn income.

“They’re asking if there is any way that there can be support given to acquire the necessary documentation to get jobs and all the other services that could be provided here,” a translator told the network.