TACOMA, Wash. — Fear and panic grows amongst many migrants who have sought asylum in Western Washington due to President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders targeting immigrants and threatening mass deportations.
“I’m scared,” Barbara, a migrant from Venezuela, told KIRO7.
Barbara came to Western Washington with her daughter and husband. She says they just arrived from the US-Mexico border within the past few days. She says the journey to get to Puget Sound was a long one.
“11 months of being in Mexico and going around on trains and being taken by people and basically other police commanders there,” Barbara said.
Barbara and her family are staying at the old Quality Inn on Hosmer Street in Tacoma which is now operated by Thrive International, a nonprofit that helps those who have sought asylum find work and care. Currently, 350 migrants from places like Venezuela, Congo, and Angola are staying at the hotel. Director of the property Anna Bondarenko says the fear is really amongst the people they serve.
“The vibe is uncertainty. The vibe is what is going to happen,” Bondarenko said.
Bondarenko says when it comes to their response to any of the Trump administration’s policies or executive orders, they plan to defend the migrants they serve.
“We are committed to a future and hope that our residents and the people that have come to live with us and as our mission stands, we are here to empower and help people from a setting of survival to thriving,” Bondarenko said.
“Work, move forward in life and that my daughter have a better future and live without fear. Mainly to live without fear and be free,” Barbara from Venezuela said.
KIRO7 has reached out to the Washington GOP about the fear migrants are experiencing and is still waiting for a response.
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