Join Us for The Detention Lottery

Please mark your calendar and plan to attend the production of The Detention Lottery on November 8 (see Page 7). All proceeds will directly benefit the immigrant support programs at Riverton Park United Methodist Church (RPUMC). A discussion led by the director, Amy Youngblood, will follow the performance.

PSARA stands with our immigrant neighbors in many ways, but notably, through members’ volunteer work with RPUMC and the Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice accompaniment program.

Recently, we learned of a huge budget crisis at RPUMC, and we are committed to helping by raising funds to support the programs at Riverton.

Please join your PSARA brothers and sisters in standing up for the human rights and dignity of our immigrant neighbors. They are in desperate need of help, and Riverton has been the leader in answering the call. We cannot let it falter.

Here’s a little background. Since January of 2023, RPUMC has served as a major unofficial welcoming center in the Puget Sound area for newly arrived immigrants seeking asylum. Under the leadership of Pastor Jan Bolerjack, Riverton has assisted 6,000+ individuals and families with legal assistance, shelter, employment, education, food, clothing, case management, and whatever is needed.

The church hired case managers to help immigrants connect to medical care, apply for financial assistance for medical bills, pay bills/fines, open bank accounts, enroll kids in school and bring in English language tutors, get a WA State ID or driver’s license, develop resumes and job applications, and provide interview guidance, etc.

The church hired staff to work with the volunteer immigration legal assistance team and set up the Immigration Legal Assistance Fund, which helps pay the cost of asylum and work permit application fees.

In the meantime, the Trump administration makes it increasingly difficult for immigrants to thrive by drastically increasing the work permit application fee and requiring the asylum application fee to be renewed annually. The government can deem the asylum application abandoned if the fee is not renewed. The administration also took away the option for people to apply for fee waivers.

In its war on immigrants, the Trump Administration is making it nearly impossible for immigrants to work legally. Without the legal assistance team and fund, hundreds of the immigrants would not be able to file for asylum and work permits.

The church was able to sustain its high level of support through the generosity of individual volunteers and donors, and grants through city, county, and state government.

Recently, Riverton lost major sources of funding when grants expired. As a result, the church laid off two full-time case managers, the entire legal assistance team, mail room manager (½ time), resource center director (¼ time), and bodega manager (full time). All these positions are temporarily staffed by volunteers but the hours for provision of services have been reduced.

Riverton is struggling to meet the needs of the 40-50 people who come to the church daily, seeking case management, and the 30+ people who come each Monday to the legal clinic.

These programs are unique because asylum seekers are prohibited from applying for many forms of government assistance that are available to low-income people in our community.

The legal clinic is one of only a handful of free immigration legal clinics in the Puget Sound area that provides this type of assistance. Most other free assistance clinics are fully funded, at capacity, and refer clients to RPUMC.

Between 40 to 50 people, half of whom are children, currently reside at Riverton, sleeping on mattresses on the floor, while 50 others reside in tiny homes and structures on church property. Residents use the communal kitchen and bathrooms. The food bank serves hundreds of people in the area, as well as the immigrants residing at the church. The resource center provides clothing and household necessities to 50-60 people weekly.

Pastor Jan estimates that $280,000 is needed to reinstate the needed full-time staff; $50,000 is needed to reinstate three part-time legal assistance team members, and $50,000 is needed for the legal assistance fund.

PSARA is working with RPUMC to raise funds by meeting with elected officials at the city, county, and state levels to procure whatever funding is available through these channels. We’re also appealing directly to our members and beyond to become one-time and monthly contributors at whatever level the donor can sustain.

The Detention Lottery, by Margaret O’Donnell, brings to life true stories from her years as a practicing immigration attorney. The play is a 60-minute immersive experience that takes the audience directly into the immigration courtroom. We bear witness to the proceedings where the hopes and dreams of asylum applicants are decided in mere minutes and in few words. We experience firsthand how “justice is served” in our name.