RANGE Media

For a Yakima Valley farmworker, Trump’s immigration crackdown prompts a wrenching decision to self-deport An innovator in the apple orchards separates from her family to return to Mexico. In Congress, a bi-partisan bill to legalize many undocumented workers struggles to gain a hearing.

Para una trabajadora agrícola del valle de Yakima, la represión migratoria de Trump provoca la dolorosa decisión de autodeportarse Una innovadora en los huertos de manzanas se separa de su familia para regresar a México. Un proyecto de ley bipartidista que podría legalizar a muchos trabajadores indocumentados tiene dificultades para conseguir una audiencia en el congreso.

ℹ️ Many of the quotes and details in this story come from local Haitians who asked to remain anonymous due to immigration concerns. Children’s fingerpaintings of crabs dotted the walls of an early learning classroom in North Spokane where about a dozen Haitians and a few allies gathered. It was late June, just days after the Supreme Court decided that the Trump administration could legally end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries.

Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. It’s another quiet week, but there’s a few meetings happening anyway. Some things that stick out to us this week include: Spokane City Council is cancelled for “Fourth of July week” but will return next Wednesday on the new weekly meeting schedule.

From 2023 to 2026, what changed in three unhoused individuals' lives? On this week’s episode, RANGE reporter Aaron Hedge interviewed Daniel Walters about his most recent story, the process and reasoning behind it, and the work that went into it. Daniel’s story consists of follow up interviews with three formerly unhoused men, continuing his previous conversations with them from 2023. Stabbed. Frostbitten. Overdosed. Sheltered. Sober. Saved.

Two years ago to the day, Mayor Lisa Brown signed an executive order in front of the intersection where cyclist and prominent community member Janet Mann had been killed in a crosswalk by a car to say: enough was enough. The city would be moving quickly and decisively to address traffic safety, “ so that we do not have to lose any more of our loved ones to unnecessary traffic related incidents,” Brown said.

In a sanctuary in one of Eastern Washington’s largest churches, John Scherling led five GOP candidates seeking a House seat in Washington’s Sixth Legislative District in a prayer that squarely identified the enemies of American values.

From Chindandega, Nicaragua, Fatima’s voice cuts in and out over the phone. Beeping sounds can be heard before she gets a signal again. “Sorry, I don’t have good cellphone service here,” Fatima said in Spanish. Fatima self-deported six months ago from Spokane out of fear of being detained, despite an ongoing asylum case. Her partner had been detained a little over a year earlier, an experience she said contributed to her fear of being detained and possibly separated from her 1-year-old.

Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. We’re getting to the part of the year where a bunch of meetings are cancelled, which means you, us and some government officials all get a bit of a break.

The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with its plans to strip temporary legal status from 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, a move that opens them up to deportation. The 6-3 conservative court ruled that the Haitian and Syrian immigrants are not “entitled” to orders postponing an end to their temporary protections while litigation is pending, arguing those are non-constitutional claims.