Partnerships to help asylum seekers at Tukwila church take shape amid city's state of emergency

The growing number of migrants looking for asylum at a church in Tukwila prompted the city to declare a state of emergency on Friday.

The city is asking for help from state, county, and federal governments, and hopes to meet other priorities at the local level.

“The Tukwila community has always been welcoming to refugees and immigrants from around the world. Many new arrivals to the United States have called Tukwila home in their pathway to citizenship,” said Mayor Allan Ekberg.

Jan Bolerjack is a pastor at the Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila, where roughly 180 to 200 migrants are currently taking shelter. She said there’s a lack of regional infrastructure to help asylum seekers like them.

“We promote ourselves as welcoming in the Pacific Northwest, and yet we've forgotten this whole group of people that are our new neighbors,” she said.