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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: US – WASHINGTON STATE ASYLUM SEEKERS
HEADLINE: Asylum-Seekers Find Shelter at Church in Washington State
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 02/28/2024 at 9AM
BYLINE: Natasha Mozgovaya
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Tukwila, Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: Mozgovaya
VIDEO EDITOR: Rod James
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Stearns
SCRIPT EDITORS: sb, Reifenrath, DJ (ok)
VIDEO SOURCE: VOA
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:59
VID APPROVED BY: pcd
TYPE: TVR
EDITOR NOTES: Video may be embedded within accompanying web story))
((INTRO))
[[Though the number of migrants crossing daily into the U.S. has fallen since December, local communities are still scrambling to provide them with resources. In the Pacific Northwest, a small-town church has become a shelter for hundreds of people from Africa and Latin America. From Tukwila, Washington, VOA’s Natasha Mozgovaya has our story.]]
((Rev. Jan Bolerjack, Riverton Park United Methodist Church (female, English)))
"Hello…
((A woman with a toddler tries to speak to her in Spanish, the pastor shrugs helplessly))
I don’t know what you are saying."
((NARRATOR))
Jan Bolerjack is the pastor of Riverton Park United Methodist Church here in Tukwila, a suburb of Seattle. In the past year, the church has helped about one thousand migrants find shelter, food, and clothing.
((Rev. Jan Bolerjack, Riverton Park United Methodist Church (female, English)))
"Somehow, this place has been listed across the country and at the border that this is the place to go. // And yet I'm kind of embarrassed when they get here // and we have to say, 'No, you’ve got to sleep in a wet, soggy tent.'"
((NARRATOR))
Early on, the church’s open door for the most vulnerable was met with local donations and support from the city. But Bolerjack says those limited resources are now being stretched by as many as 25 new asylum-seekers per week.
((Rev. Jan Bolerjack, Riverton Park United Methodist Church (female, English)))
"It's wall-to-wall mattresses at night with people sleeping, and all of their possessions are lining the edges of the room. It's not the best system, but it's the best we can do.”
((NARRATOR))
Jeremiah Lefau says he left Angola with his wife and children in December 2022.
((Jeremiah Lefau, Asylum-Seeker)) (male, speaks French)
"When I arrived here in the United States, I didn't have a place to go. ... They protected me, and then I was given food and drink and I felt safe.”
((NARRATOR))
Unlike refugees, who may receive assistance through resettlement programs, asylum-seekers may find themselves homeless, with no means to support themselves until their work permit application is approved. Bolerjack says that in the past year, only one person seeking shelter at her church has gotten their work permit.
((Rev. Jan Bolerjack, Riverton Park United Methodist Church (female, English)))
“They don't have a proper ID, because all they have are their asylum papers coming across the border, and so some shelters turn them away for that. // There are still a lot of people sleeping out there on the street. Of course, joining the other 14,000 that we have sleeping on our streets."
((NARRATOR))
When temperatures dropped below freezing here, local donations and funding from local and state agencies moved hundreds of asylum-seekers from tents to hotels. State Representative Mia Gregerson is working toward a more coordinated response with a bill that aims to empower the local Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance.
((Mia Gregerson, Washington State Representative))
"Tukwila is a tiny little city // I think they're really rolling their sleeves up well and really making a go of that. But there is a lot of uncertainty. What are we going to do when the funds run out?
The idea is that the office is able to be nimble and be able to utilize resources quickly to not only put them into the system, to get them legal advice that's correct and factual or quick to get them the education resources, the transportation needs, and housing vouchers.”
((NARRATOR))
Governor Jay Inslee is asking lawmakers for more than $8 million in additional funding in his latest state budget to support people who do not qualify for federal refugee resettlement services. Meanwhile, the Biden administration pushing for measures to reduce the number of asylum-seekers who can enter the U.S.
((Natasha Mozgovaya, VOA News, Tukwila, Washington))
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