Cascadia today: Many ICE detentions illegal + lawsuits resume over dams + how a nude beach inspired a dance piece

Hey there! I'm Andrew Engelson, a writer, journalist and activist based in Seattle. I love this bioregion I call home, whether it's exploring its mountains, meeting the creative people who live here, or fighting for the rights of its most vulnerable residents. Cascadia is many things, but what we all share in common is a landscape that stretches from southeast Alaska to northern California, and to the headwaters of the Columbia (Nch’i-Wàna) and Fraser (Sto:lo) Rivers. It's a place worth protecting.

Every day I compile a roundup of news, environmental coverage, and arts reporting from around the bioregion, as well as writing a weekly essay about efforts to build autonomy and resilience Cascadia. It's a lot of work, and I couldn't do it without your support, thank you! If you can, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Thanks! --Andrew

Many ICE detentions are illegal

KUOW reports on how many ICE detentions in Washington state are conducted illegally – either because agents never allowed a detainee to contact an attorney or inform them of the reason for their detention. Alan Phetsadakone, for instance, a Lao immigrant in the US for decades, was detained but not informed why the government planned to deport him. Meanwhile, OPB reports that ICE activity has increased dramatically in the past week in western Oregon, with scores of people being detained and sent to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. These mass deportations are a cruel, racist effort to remove all immigrants without documentation from the US: the Guardian reports that the majority of those deported have no criminal record.

No Kings 2.0 protests planned across Cascadia

This Saturday, No Kings rallies and marches against Trump's authoritarian regime are scheduled to take place all across Cascadia, with major demonstrations planned in Bellingham, Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Eugene, Spokane, and Boise – and many other cities and towns across the Pacific Northwest. Among those attending the Boise rally will be former Republican Eric Earling, who wrote for the Idaho Capital Sun about the reasons he has no need for Donald Trump:

We don’t have a king, but we do have a hot mess in this country thanks to a chaotic and impulsive president and his administration. We have an unlawful and economically damaging tariff regime that both changes on a whim and has sent us into a jobs recession while stoking more inflation.

If you're at the Seattle rally in Seattle Center, you'll likely find me near the entrance to Pacific Science Center talking about Cascadia Journal and Cascadia Democratic Action. To sign up for CDA's email action alerts, visit our website:

Trial of drug compassion club organizers concludes

The Tyee reports that concluding arguments were made in the Vancouver trial of Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) organizers Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum, who are accused of illegally selling banned substances. In order to deal with the fatal drug overdose crisis in Vancouver, DULF purchased and sold at cost medical-grade heroin, cocaine, and meth to drug users. During the time of its operation, the drug compassion club served 47 members and recorded no fatal overdoses. The judge, who noted that DULF seemed to be "hung out to dry" by the police, is expected to rule in early November.

Legal battle over Columbia dams resumes

Washington State Standard reports on environmental groups and tribes preparing to file lawsuits against the federal government over lack of progress restoring salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia and Snake River watersheds. Donald Trump backed out a historic agreement between the feds, tribes and environmental groups in June, calling the accord "radical environmentalism."

Moving forward, the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho – as well as the province of British Columbia and Indigenous nations – would do well to forge their own agreement and declare sovereignty over the dams and watersheds with their territory by peacefully working toward independence. Indigenous leaders are already asserting their cross-border sovereignty, by declaring tariff-free trade corridors between the US and Canada, citing, as the article at Mother Jones notes:

"... the Jay Treaty, a 1794 agreement between the United States and Great Britain that recognizes the right of Indigenous peoples to freely cross the US-Canada border for trade and travel."

How a nude beach inspired a famous dance piece

The Georgia Straight interviews Canadian choreographer Daniel Léveillé about his most famous piece, Amour, acide et noix (Love, Acid and Nuts). Léveillé says that the inspiration for the 2001 composition incorporated nude dancers was a moment spent on Vancouver's Wreck Beach, the only official clothing-optional beach in Canada.

“When I had a one- or two-day break, I would go to Wreck Beach,” he says. “And one day down there, there were people playing handball. It’s just amazing to see a man or woman jumping and rising and reaching; you see all the muscles functioning. It’s quite different than watching the exact same movement with clothes on.” --Daniel Léveillé

Love, Acid and Nuts will be performed Oct 24 - 25 by Dance House in Vancouver.

-Andrew Engelson