It’s time for Cascadia independence from the US

By Andrew Engelson and Drew Alcoser

Last week, three protesters in Spokane who opposed ICE’s cruel mass deportation campaign were convicted of felony conspiracy charges in federal court. They could each face up to six years in prison for engaging in civil disobedience.

It’s yet another step by the Trump regime to use the criminal justice system to silence dissent and deprive people of their First Amendment rights. The case is being prosecuted even though the former U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington, Richard Barker, resigned in protest two days before the indictment.

In addition, the US Postal Service announced last week that it’s moving forward with a plan to demand that states provide the feds with lists of registered voters before it agrees to mail out ballots. This is illegal and unconstitutional – the US constitution clearly assigns the power of managing elections to the states. Oregon and Washington were early adopters of vote-by-mail, a system that has proven safe and secure and encourages more people to participate in democracy.

What’s happening in Eastern Washington and at Cascadia’s ballot boxes is another chapter in the regime’s descent into authoritarianism. If this administration continues to prosecute critics, pressure news outlets to shut down, attack our region’s vote-by-mail system, and engage in lawless wars and a cruel mass deportation campaign, it’s time for the people of Oregon and Washington to consider a radical but rational solution: separation from the United States.

One year ago, we wrote about starting conversations on Cascadia autonomy in response to the US descent into fascism. Things have only gotten worse since then.

The U.S. constitution is a contract between the people and the federal government. Over the past year and a half, the Trump administration has abrogated that contract many times over. Those offenses are strikingly similar to the American colonists’ complaints against Britain in the 1776 Declaration of Independence.

Trump has illegally imposed tariffs on trade, costing Oregon and Washington’s economies $4 billion.

He has sent masked agents among our people to kidnap and deport immigrants, without warrants. He has attempted to federalize the Oregon National Guard and use it against our people engaging in their right to protest.

The feds have illegally held back billions of dollars in appropriated funds to Washington and Oregon, including more than $1 billion in clean energy grants, billions of dollars for medical and scientific research, and huge cuts to Medicaid and food aid benefits.

They’ve taken an ax to the Forest Service budget, closed regional offices, eliminated funding for trails, and plan to log more than a billion board feet of timber in Oregon and Washington with little care for our environment.

This, as Trump’s regime engages in a pointless war in Iran and asks for a colossal $1.5 trillion in spending for a bloated military budget.

The U.S. system of government has proven weak and ineffective in preventing this march toward fascism and fiscal disaster.

Each year, residents of Washington and Oregon pay $36 billion more in federal taxes than we receive back in funds and services. We could do more by keeping that money at home.

We want good schools, free college tuition, universal health care, affordable housing, and a robust transportation system. Fiscal autonomy would allow Cascadia to achieve those goals.

It’s not a pipe dream. In a February 2026 YouGov poll, 23% of Washington residents and 21% of Oregon residents said they’d support secession from the United States.

One only has to read a little history to find examples of separation movements that succeeded peacefully. India left the British empire without violence in the mid 20^th century, the Baltic States peacefully left the Soviet Union in the 1990s, and Norway left its union with Sweden without conflict in 1905.

Together, Oregon and Washington, if we became an independent nation, would have a population of 12 million and an annual GDP of $1.2 trillion, putting it on a scale of a country like the Netherlands.

We need to begin serious discussions about how separation might proceed and what comes after.

There are steps we can take now. We should pass bills in the Oregon and Washington legislatures that would withhold payments to the federal government if the feds illegally claw back appropriated funds.

Washington should pass state senator Bob Hasegawa’s bill creating a state bank, which would increase fiscal autonomy and provide more funds for transportation and housing projects.

The organization Cascadia Democratic Action supports these and other steps toward autonomy. We’re also in the process of looking at the feasibility of putting initiatives on the ballot in 2028 in Oregon and Washington that would begin the process of separation.

If the federal government continues to harass and abuse us as it did in a federal courthouse in Spokane, we need to consider a divorce.

We’re an empathetic but feisty people here in the Pacific Northwest. We take care of one another, we work hard, we value human rights, and we’re dedicated to preserving the majestic environment of Cascadia. We can do all that better on our own.

Read more about Cascadia Democratic Action's campaign for Oregon and Washington independence.

Andrew Engelson is an organizer with Cascadia Democratic Action and writes the newsletter Cascadia Journal.

Drew Alcoser is an organizer for environmental justice and the founder of Cascadia Stack.