PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Multnomah County is stepping in to help prevent 80 asylum seekers in Portland from winding up homeless on the street.
The county will give money to a program that provides shelter for asylum seekers. The group Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice was paying for them to stay in a hotel in Northeast Portland but that money ran out at the end of March.
Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson told KOIN 6 News this funding is a band-aid, not a silver bullet.
“We have to really be working together to find those long-term solutions to this problem,” she said. “Calling on the state, the city and other partners including philanthropic partners to help step in and fill this gap so we can find more permanent solutions for these families. And really to put a plan of action in place so that we have a system of response as we have more families coming into Oregon.”
Oregon has been a sanctuary state since 1987. A welcome center opened its doors in 2022 for asylum seekers. Then the program was shut down this past December.
Earlier Wednesday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said he’s looking into how it was funded in the past.
“I will continue to work with my colleagues and the state and the county and figure out what the plan was and what the plan will be,” Wheeler said.
Multnomah County offered families tents as a last-second resource before they came up with this short-term solution.
“We need something to respond in the moment and I think that with the best of intentions, this person was like I can’t solve the big problem,” Vega Pederson said. “But what I can do is provide you some assistance, you know, with a tent to help you as this transition does happen.
“We all agree that the right answer is not to hand people tents, ‘welcome, you can join the population homeless people on the streets of Portland.’ That’s the wrong answer,” Wheeler said.
The funding to keep the asylum-seekers in a hotel will last until the end of the month.
The county expects to hold meetings with stakeholders to find solutions next week.
