Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila is more than just a Sunday ministry, it’s a full-time sanctuary and camp ground for the homeless, just a few miles outside of Seattle.
The church’s pastor, Jan Bolerjack, tells me “we need housing for these folks, we need them not to be in tents.”
And now, Bolerjack is being challenged to extend even more grace and generosity to those in need.
Along with the homeless people already living at the church, nearly 400 migrants are now staying in tents and makeshift shelters on the property.
“I’ve gotten calls from the southern border,” Bolerjack says. “They somehow get this phone number, or this address and they show up here.”
When I ask if the homeless and migrants are getting along, she tells me it takes effort.
Almost all the men, women, and children are from Venezuela or Angola, they barely speak English, and they’ve been living here for nearly a year.
“There are kids, there’s sweeping, there’s so much going on,” I say to Bolerjack as I tour the church. “There is,” she replies, “aren’t they beautiful?”
The building has a feeling of controlled chaos. Most of the kids living have cell phones and pass their time playing video games. The church kitchen is in constant use.
Bolerjack says everyone on the premises has official papers to temporarily stay in the U.S. while seeking asylum.
“There are men and women who are jumping over with their kids who don’t have paperwork,” I tell Bolerjack. “I don’t know about them,” she says. “I don’t have them here.”
To complicate the situation further, in some cases, there is a two-year backlog of cases waiting to be heard in immigration court.
“We can’t take anymore,” Bolerjack says, but she’s refusing to turn people away.
“If a family shows up standing at my door, we take them.”
But even with the best intentions, the problems are hard to ignore.
I’ve obtained police records showing more than 100 dispatched calls to the church in the past year.
Incidents include responses for rape, three suicides, burglaries, auto theft, unwanted subjects on the property, harassment, lewd conduct, and vandalism.
I obtained exclusive video showing a series of fights and arguments happening inside the church, and clashes over cultural differences between the Angolans and Venezuelans are now a regular occurrence.
A woman who goes by Maria stays in one of the tents at the church and wanted to stay anonymous.
“When we try to report any problem, the don’t take our case,” she tells me.
Maria says there have been far more problematic incidents, but church staff members are pressuring them not to speak up.
She tells me she feels like the pastor is trying to cover up or downplay the problems. “She’s very clear and consistent in asking us to keep the problem low, and deal with her only, don’t call the police,” Maria says.
Pastor Bolerjack did not respond to these allegations. I asked the Tukwila Police Department for a breakdown on exactly who is responsible for what, but that data was unavailable.
I also reached out to regional leaders of the United Methodist Church but heard nothing in response.
Neighbors who live near the church are losing patience with the lack of transparency and say this situation is spiraling out of control.
“Pastor Jan just keeps trying to smooth things over,” one neighbor told me.
Consequently, Tukwila’s mayor recently declared a state of emergency to access more regional support and funding for this crisis that no one was prepared for.
“The number of people has really outstripped the resources of the church,” Nora Gierloff, Tukwila Community Development Director, told me.
While the church and private donors are financially supporting this situation so far, no small organization can handle the number of people flooding their property.
City leaders say the surge is stretching public school resources and the region’s, already struggling, homeless support system. In fact, there are now complaints from advocates who say the migrants are jumping ahead in line for housing at the expense of Americans living on the streets.
“Are you getting any guidance or sense of when the migrants will be moving out?” I asked Gierloff.
“The flow seems to be continuing, and I think that is the challenge and we need more of a comprehensive solution,” she told me.
A spokesperson for Washington State Governor Jay Inslee’s office says they’re aware of what’s going on and trying to help, but emphasized that they “haven’t heard of other jurisdictions experiencing this same situation.”
The reality is, the crisis is spreading, and Bolerjack says other United Methodist churches in the area are trying to help.
Twenty people from Riverton Church were recently bused to Highline United Methodist Church in Burien, just a few miles away.
Brandon Lewis lives right next door to Highline and says he was never notified.
“If they pose any type of threat to the community, that’s something that we all need to be aware of,” he tells me. “They’re going to do what they can get away with.”
Burien City Councilmembers Jimmy Matta and Stephanie Mora say this is concerning for their city.
Councilmember Matta tells me he was not notified by Highline Church that migrants were moving there.
“It just seems very unplanned,” says councilmember Mora.
And the business community is preparing for the worst.
“Respectfully, we have our own issues right now,” local businessowner Robyn Desimone tells me. “I don’t believe we are in a position to take on more.”
Highline pastor Jenny Partch did not want to go on camera, but she says the capacity at her church is set at 30 people, and these families will only be allowed to stay until the end of November.
This is not just a Washington state problem. A record number of migrants illegally crossed the southern border during the past few years. Many ended up in “sanctuary cities” like New York and Chicago where law enforcement may look the other way.
“I believe we need to get more resources to welcome them,” Bolerjack says.
The pastors say there’s no exact playbook to address this unprecedented crisis, but they “will let them stay until they find something better.”
Their faith is being tested more than ever.