This is an absolute scandal; the United States government is deliberately consolidating all deportation cases of an ethnic minority that the President has called "garbage" in front of a handpicked group of judges and with dramatically accelerated timeline.

A lawsuit was filed yesterday against it.

For my latest story I reviewed over 100 cases where immigrants challenged their ICE detention in federal court in Washington. In most of those cases, judges determined ICE was holding people illegally.

Trump’s Immigration Forces Deploy “Less Lethal” Weapons in Dangerous Ways, Skirting Rules and Maiming Protesters Civil rights and weapons experts cite the consequences of federal agents’ use of crowd control weapons: religious leaders shot with pepper balls and noxious chemicals. A nurse nearly blinded by tear g...

We found more than two dozen cases of immigration agents using "less lethal" weapons in ways that appear to flout the government's own rules, including by aiming at someone’s head, spine or groin or deploying chemical agents near children.

Published Nov. w/ @frontlinepbs.bsky.social

Investigations team caps four years with state law, policy reforms From youth labor violations to housing abuses to pandemic aid fraud, Cascade PBS investigative reporters cast light into undercovered corners of WA in 2025.

From youth labor violations to housing abuses to pandemic aid fraud, Cascade PBS investigative reporters cast light into undercovered corners of Washington. Our final Impact Report and a thread of some of the team's best work: www.cascadepbs.org/impact-repor...

Seattle's Cascade PBS announces layoffs, end of online long-form journalism The move, attributed to the loss of federal funding for public media, marks the layoffs of 17 staffers and the creation of three new positions, station President and CEO Rob Dunlop told KUOW.

The move, attributed to the loss of federal funding for public media, marks the layoffs of 17 staffers and the creation of three new positions.

An H-2A Visa Promised Her a Better Life. She Ended Up in a Nightmare. Sofi left behind her child in Mexico for the promise of providing him a better life. She ended up a victim of an operation that is alleged to have exploited the H-2A visa program — and the workers it…

Javier Sanchez Mendoza Jr. helped Sofi secure an H-2A visa, promising a job on a Georgia blueberry farm.

When she arrived, she was not sent out to work in the fields like the others.

She was forced to live at his house and sign a marriage license.

Cascade PBS, Pierce Co. Library to host free documentary screening Cascade PBS and the Pierce County Library District are hosting a free screening of Priced Out: Fear and resistance in WA mobile home parks. In the short documentary, the Cascade PBS investigative team...

hello!

we’re hosting a screening of our documentary “priced out” this coming tuesday at the university place library! followed by a Q+A session with me and documentary host jaelynn grisso.

use the link below to rsvp. admission is free!

www.cascadepbs.org/news/briefs/...

Una guía de los tribunales de inmigración en el estado de Washington ¿Cómo se puede encontrar a alguien que está detenido por ICE? ¿Quién tiene derecho a una audiencia de inmigración? Abogados y defensores de los migrantes contestan preguntas frecuentes.

Leer en español:

A guide to navigating the immigration court system in WA state How do you locate someone in ICE custody? Who has the right to an immigration hearing? Attorneys and advocates answer common questions.

Immigration court is and can be complex.

To help you make sense of the system, Cascade PBS spoke with immigration attorneys and advocates in Washington to answer questions regarding recent federal changes and our region’s unique challenges.

WA looks to resume ICE center inspections after federal ruling The private company that runs the Northwest ICE Processing Center also dropped its lawsuit against Cascade PBS after the state provided redacted photos.

WA looks to resume ICE center inspections after federal ruling. The private company that runs the detention center also dropped its lawsuit involving Cascade PBS after the state provided redacted inspection photos. By @farahe.bsky.social: www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

come catch me at @aajaofficial.bsky.social this thursday! i’ll be speaking at the “immigration in the second trump term” panel alongside emily kwong from npr, april xu from documented and arelis hernández from the washington post!

Police

Police and protesters

NOW: DHS police are at the Seattle Federal Building, warning dozens of protesters who are trying to disrupt ICE from detaining immigrants after their court hearings to disperse.

WA mobile homeowners, advocates react to new rent stabilization law The state’s new cap on rent increases is one of the country’s most progressive — and some landlords have already steeply hiked rates in anticipation.

"You just never have a chance to breathe. And now we do.” A new cap on rent increases marks a victory for mobile homeowners — and some landlords have already steeply hiked rates in anticipation. By @farahe.bsky.social:
www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

New law aims to boost oversight of Tacoma ICE facility State officials say they've received more than 1,500 complaints about the Tacoma detention center.

A new law signed by Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson today aims to conduct state inspections of private detention facilities, including the ICE detention center in Tacoma. www.axios.com/local/seattl... #waleg

Detained WA farmworker denied release over jurisdiction dispute

NEW: Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, a farmworker and union organizer whose March arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement drew national outcry, will remain in detention after a judge announced Friday that she lacked jurisdiction to release him on bond.

Detained WA farmworker denied release over jurisdiction dispute

longtime farmworker and labor activist, Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, has been denied release from ICE detention on bond.

more here, for @cascadepbs.bsky.social:

www.cascadepbs.org/briefs/2025/...

INBOX: The bond hearing for Lelo Juarez, the farmworker organizer who was arrested by ICE on March 25, will be held tomorrow at 8:30 am. Supporters plan to hold a rally outside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, where he is being incarcerated, according to @foodjusticec2c.bsky.social.

Washington’s immigrant rights orgs mobilize amid deportation push Organizers from Tacoma to Spokane have worked to backfill support gaps and monitor detainee treatment in response to increased immigration enforcement.

Aidan Perkinson finally got the call. He was inside an RV parked outside Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, waiting alongside local volunteers. The group, Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest (AIDNW), provides reentry assistance to those released.

“Three releases today,” he said.

Washington’s immigrant rights orgs mobilize amid deportation push Organizers from Tacoma to Spokane have worked to backfill support gaps and monitor detainee treatment in response to increased immigration enforcement.

Community organizers from Tacoma to Spokane have worked to backfill service gaps and monitor detainee treatment in response to increased immigration enforcement. By @farahe.bsky.social: www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

A bar graph of the “Number of Journalists and Media Workers Killed, By War” showing that the final, Gaza War, has killed more journalists than the rest of the listed conflicts COMBINED. World Wars I & II (1914-1918) (1939-1945) Wars in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos (1965-1975) War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) Gaza War (2023-2024) U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) Korean War (1950-1953) Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001) Ukraine War (2014-2025) Gaza War (2023-2024)

“They weren’t targeted”

Support local journalists and media workers Why this matters: The Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, which represents Cascade PBS journalists, is currently in negotiations with Cascade PBS to renew our union contract. We are a group of dedicat...

This ULP brings us one step closer to striking. Time is running out for a #FairContractNow, @cascadepbsnewsroom.bsky.social.

You can join our fight by signing our petition today. actionnetwork.org/petitions/su...

🚨Unfair labor practice alert🚨 Over the weekend the union filed a ULP complaint against @cascadepbs.bsky.social for preventing us from passing out union literature in non-work spaces, which is a protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act. (1/4)

Update: Hamdan Ballal has been released from IDF custody

Tacoma ICE center company sues to block inspection records release The GEO Group alleges the state inspected the detention facility improperly and that related photos requested by Cascade PBS could pose security risks.

GEO Group, the private company that runs the ICE detention center in Tacoma, tried taking Cascade PBS to court to block our access to photos from a records request we filed, only to accidentally disclose them in a court doc

from me + @lizzgiordano.bsky.social: www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

Tacoma ICE center company sues to block inspection records release The GEO Group alleges the state inspected the detention facility improperly and that related photos requested by Cascade PBS could pose security risks.

Tacoma ICE detention co. sues to block inspection records release. They allege WA state inspected the facility improperly and photos requested by media could pose security risks. (By @farahe.bsky.social & @lizzgiordano.bsky.social @cascadepbsnewsroom.bsky.social) www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

Always, Always....Always click the link. In an effort to keep records secret the company running the Northwest ICE Processing Center in WA accidentally makes the records publicly accessible #ICE t.co/3w2QhbvnXl

"Lucharemos": Trabajadores humanitarios temen que el cierre de un campamento en la frontera de Arizona ponga en peligro a los migrantes - AZ Luminaria BOSQUE NACIONAL CORONADO — El pastor Randy Mayer maniobra hábilmente su camioneta SUV por caminos de terracería accidentados, esquivando enormes baches y subiendo por empinadas pendientes en la oscuri...

Durante los últimos dos años, organizaciones religiosas y humanitarias han proporcionado alimento y ayuda a los migrantes en un campamento cerca de Sasabe. Justo antes de que Donald Trump asumiera el cargo, los voluntarios fueron instruidos a desalojar tierras federales.

Con @propublica.org

Priced Out: Fear and resistance in WA mobile home parks The Cascade PBS documentary explores how one ownership group has bought up communities statewide and raised rents, straining low-income residents.

This year, the Cascade PBS Investigations team published a documentary highlighting its years-worth coverage of mobile home park tenant organizations and associations who have pushed back against management practices.

WA mobile home communities organize against ‘economic eviction’ Port Orchard-based Hurst & Son LLC bought dozens of parks in recent years. Now residents say the company is raising rents and cutting services.

The Attorney General’s office announced its investigation in October 2023 following an increased number of complaints alleging rapid rent hikes, maintenance changes & excessive fees. In August 2023, Cascade PBS launched a series of stories on alleged “economic eviction” throughout Hurst & Son parks.