Quality Inn on West Meeker Street in Kent. COURTESY PHOTO, Quality Inn

Quality Inn on West Meeker Street in Kent. COURTESY PHOTO, Quality Inn

Kent hotel owner says refugees need to leave after nonprofit fails to pay bill

Hopes to work out resolution by Friday, Feb. 2; uncertain where refugees will go

The owner of a Kent hotel hopes to have a resolution in the next 24 to 72 hours about where refugees from Venezuela staying at the location will go since nobody is paying for the rooms.

Eli Min, who along with his family have owned the Quality Inn at 1711 W. Meeker St. since May 2022, said he cannot afford to have the families continue to stay there after a nonprofit called Save the Kids promised to pay for the rooms but hasn’t come through with the money.

“Ultimately, I need to do what’s best for my family,” Min said in a Tuesday, Jan. 30 interview with the Kent Reporter.

More than 150 people from about 90 families occupy about 60 rooms at the hotel.

Min said he hopes to meet with the leaders of the refugee group and Save the Kids Tuesday evening in an effort to find answers. He backed off on an initial Tuesday, Jan. 30 deadline for the people to leave.

The refugees came to the Kent hotel earlier in January from the Riverton United Methodist Church in Tukwila when that church became overwhelmed with too many refugees to house in tents or inside the church.

Min said a representative from Save the Kids approached him in December about housing families at the hotel. He said they had a verbal agreement about a price.

“We had no contracts,” Min said. “It was against all business logic. It went against my senses.”

He said he wasn’t sure if he was doing it “out of the goodness of my heart” or knowing “I’d get a good amount of money out of it.”

Min said he met with Maurece Graham-Bey of Save the Kids. Graham-Bey, of Bothell, started a GoFundMe account in Dec. 6, 2023 to help house families staying at the Tukwila church. Min said he wasn’t aware of that account.

“Dear friends, we need your support to help immigrant families seeking asylum near Seattle,” Graham-Bey wrote. “These families have fled political unrest and economic collapse, facing unimaginable hardships.”

After raising $4,140 from 13 donations, Graham-Bey posted on Dec. 15, 2023 that “we are pleased with the support, and are turning our attention to other methods of fundraising.”

Graham-Bey is listed on the savethekidsgroup.org website as the national director of critical reintegration services for the group. The Kent Reporter left a voicemail Jan. 30 for Graham-Bey, but has not heard back.

Min said he talked to people with the national Save the Kids group, reportedly based in Utah, but they denied knowing much about the fundraising effort to house people at the Kent hotel. He said an individual not connected to the group paid for a few rooms initially on a credit card before that stopped.

Leila Nimmer, listed as a friend on the GoFundMe page started by Save the Kids, left a voicemail for the Kent Reporter on Jan. 16 that Save the Kids planned to house as many as 50 families from the Tukwila church property to get them out of tents and into housing. She didn’t mention where the group planned to house the families.

The Kent Reporter reached out to Nimmer Jan. 30, but she has not returned a voicemail.

Min said he reached out to the city of Kent, King County and the city of Tukwila. He said Kent didn’t respond. He said the county called back but said they couldn’t do anything. He said a Tukwila city official said the refugees could not come back to the city.

City of Kent response

When asked about the refugee situation at the Quality Inn by the Kent Reporter, Pat Fitzpatrick, city of Kent chief administrative officer, said the city couldn’t do much.

“The city has been to the site and has confirmed that individuals are being housed in hotel rooms,” Fitzpatrick said in a Jan. 29 email. “The hotel owner agreed to house these individuals, and we understand he has not been paid by the nonprofit group that transported the individuals and promised payment.

“The city considers this a business matter between the hotel and the nonprofit, and does not have the resources to remove and relocate individuals from the hotel rooms. The city also does not have a current plan to forcibly remove individuals from the hotel rooms.”

Fitzpatrick said city staff will keep an eye on things.

“The city will continue to monitor the situation,” Fitzpatrick said. “In the meantime, as this is a national and statewide issue that no Washington city has the resources to resolve, the city has reached out to a member of our federal delegation, the Governor’s office and King County for insight into a resolution.”

Refugees from Venezuela

According to a 2023 article on immigrationforum.org, “since 2015, more than 7 million Venezuelans have emigrated due to ongoing economic and political turmoil. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Venezuelan exodus – representing a quarter of Venezuela’s population – is the world’s second-largest refugee crisis. Moreover, the exodus shows little sign of slowing, with an estimated 2,000 Venezuelans still leaving their country every day.

“During the first years of this exodus, most Venezuelans initially settled in neighboring countries. However, in the last year, an increasing number of Venezuelans have traveled to the United States to seek asylum. As a result, in fiscal year 2022, U.S. authorities encountered almost 188,000 Venezuelans at the border, an increase of 73% from fiscal 2021.”


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

File Photo
Kent Police officer shoots, injures man in Des Moines

Feb. 14 incident under review by Valley Independent Investigative Team

People line SE 272nd Street in Covington on Presidents Day, Feb. 17 to protest many of the actions by the Trump administration. COURTESY PHOTO, Ron Auerbach
People line Covington street to protest Trump, Musk actions

One of many protests across the nation against ‘the anti-democratic and illegal actions’

Charlene Honda at the Day of Remembrance on Feb. 8, 2025, at the Washington State Fairgrounds. Photo by Bruce Honda
Federal Way woman recalls her time in U.S. concentration camp

‘It’s good for people to hear what happened so that it never happens again.’

t
Man fatally shot by Kent Police had high blood alcohol level

Crime lab test results show 0.27 blood concentration level in August 2024 shooting at apartments

Courtesy Photo, City of Kent
Construction set in Kent for 74th Ave. S. and Willis Street

Crews to install traffic islands, curbing at busy intersection

t
Kent Police Blotter: Jan. 26 to Feb. 6

Incidents include vehicle prowls, carjacking arrest, police pursuits, shots fired

Kentlake High School. COURTESY PHOTO, Kent School District
Former Kentlake High School teacher pleads guilty to sex charge

Jesse Webb, 46, pleads guilty to communication with a minor for immoral purposes

t
Kent School Board appoints Teresa Gregory to vacant seat

Gregory selected from among 7 finalists to replace Awale Farah

Karen Keiser. COURTESY PHOTO
Former state Sen. Karen Keiser appointed to state Exchange health board

Health Benefit Exchange formed as part of Affordable Care Act

Crews on the SR 509 Completion Project in south King County install the framework for a new bus stop on SR 516, also known as Kent-Des Moines Road. The SR 509 Completion Project includes new or improved connections to existing transit centers and stops. COURTESY PHOTO, WSDOT
Eastbound SR 516 ramp to I-5 in Kent to close for 4 months

Drivers heading to northbound I-5 will use a temporary left turn lane

Courtesy Photo, King County
Tacoma boy, 17, charged with murder in November 2024 Kent case

Reportedly fired six shots into vehicle that killed 21-year-old SeaTac man on West Hill

t
CW series ‘Police 24/7’ features Kent indecent exposure case

Department also part of future TV episodes after crews responded on calls with police in 2024