Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 2026)
While in Congress, DeFazio supported an immigra- tion framework that included registration, background checks, back taxes or fines, and work, study or military service requirements, with a pathway to citizenship after a decade. The proposal failed to pass. DeFazio says Democrats also failed to communicate their accomplishments, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, while allowing immigration concerns to dominate public perception. Looking ahead to 2028, he expects affordability and wealth concentration to be defining issues. But in the present, his greatest concern is what he describes as a growing Silicon Valley-linked, Christian nationalist ideol- ogy within Trump’s orbit. One name that concerns DeFazio is Curtis Yarvin, the Palo Alto software developer who doesn’t believe in democracy and thinks a tech czar would better rule the U.S. Yarvin has been promoted by Silicon Valley billion- aire Peter Thiel, who sponsored JD Vance’s Senate race. Vance, who currently seems to be the Republican front- runner for 2028, has become tight with whom DeFazio calls “techno fascists” and those in the Christian nation- alist movement. At a recent “No Kings” rally, DeFazio says he heard widespread concern about trans rights and immigration — but not enough attention to what he fears most. “We are on the verge of losing our representative democ- racy,” he says. Unlike Trump’s first term, DeFazio believes there are now fewer internal checks on the president’s impulses. He singled out White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as particularly troubling, describing him as a Chris- tian nationalist and white supremacist. Asked about the future of American democracy under Trump’s second term, DeFazio did not mince words. “I’d say 50/50,” he says. “Or less.” Fascism Fighter to work in Eugene is not going to work in Corvallis and what’s going to work in Corvallis is not going to work in Roseburg,” says Bird, who lives in Corvallis. “I think this really comes back to asking people in the community what they need instead of telling them what they need.” Bird says the country needs leaders who are willing to speak out and lift the voices of people who are often ignored and left behind. “I just don’t see that happening in our district,” she says. Bird is running against Hoyle, who’s served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023. “I am not the only person challenging Val Hoyle in this race,” Bird says. “I think we should be questioning not just representative Hoyle but also everyone who is running for the seat.” Boris “Bo” Weidenfeld-Needham, longtime Eugene wine merchant and 50501 Eugene leader, announced in July 2025 that he was running as a Democrat against Hoyle, and Hoyle’s 2024 Republican challenger, Monique DeSpain, who Hoyle beat handily, is running again. So far, Bird’s campaign has received over $17,000 in contributions. “I want voters to know that I am not taking corporate money. I am not taking AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] money,” Bird says. “Every single dollar that is raised in this campaign is raised by people who support this vision and this mission of electing people to office who care about the people absolutely.” Hoyle’s campaign has raised $644,702 so far and Weidenfeld-Needham has raised $2,260. Bird says she believes she stands out from other candi- dates because she’s a Native, working class woman who knows the struggles of the average American. “Voters deserve someone who represents them,” Bird says. “We deserve leaders in office who are going to rise for this occasion and fight like hell against the rise of fascism in this country.” people who won’t hesitate to grab people and throw them on the ground,” he said. “Maybe shoot them.” DeFazio is deeply troubled by what he sees as the agen- cy’s increasingly aggressive tactics. “The tactics they’re using — China couldn’t get away with that,” DeFazio said. “Guys in masks throwing people to the ground, only to find out they’re citizens or have green cards.” He compared ICE’s posture to the Blackshirts, the paramilitary force that helped enforce early Italian fascism under Benito Mussolini. IMMIGRATION AND DEMOCRATIC RISK Domestically, DeFazio considers immigration one of the Democrats’ greatest policy failures. In 2022, the U.S. recorded approximately 2.2 million illegal border cross- ings — the highest annual total on record. “It took them three years to figure out they had created a mess,” he says of the Biden administration. Native American candidate Melissa Bird hopes to be the next congressional representative for Oregon’s 4th District BY EVE WESTON “I ’ve always wanted to run for office, and I just decided that now is the time,” Melissa Bird says. Bird — small business owner, lay preacher, social worker and descendant of the Shivwits Band of Southern Paiutes — is running against incumbent Rep. Val Hoyle for the Democratic nomination in the May primary for Oregon’s 4th Congressional District seat. Bird says she decided “enough is enough” and chose to run after the Trump administration stripped away her husband’s dream job at the National Oceanic and Atmo- spheric Administration when it terminated hundreds of employees from the agency in early 2025. Her top priorities, Bird says, are housing, health care and unjust Immigration and Customs Enforcement prac- tices. While she emphasizes that other topics are high on her priority list, these three are integral to her campaign and her beliefs. “I’m a Native woman and we’ve been doing this to brown people for over 500 years,” Bird says of ICE unlawfully detaining citizens. “This is what happened to my people, my grandparents, to my great grandparents and to my ancestors. I absolutely cannot in good faith or conscience support the separation and removal of people from their families.” Bird, who holds a doctorate degree in social work, is a part of Citizens Impeachment, a volunteer group dedi- cated to advocating for the impeachment and prosecution of President Donald Trump. Bird is one of 62 candidates involved with the organization and pledges that she, along with her colleagues, will introduce impeachment articles every day until Trump is impeached. “I’m deeply disturbed about what’s happening, particularly with everything that’s happening in Minnesota and also what’s happening with Native and Indigenous people,” Bird says. She says that if she wins, she will support the Rural New Deal health care model put forward by the Rural-Ur- ban Bridge Initiative and the Progressive Democrats of America. It focuses on five principles and 10 pillars to “rebuild local economies across rural America.” The platform calls for reforming health care by increas- ing the number of clinics, investing in effective programs for addiction prevention and treatment and even piloting “farmacy” programs that allow health care providers to write prescriptions for the purchase of healthy foods. Bird says she hopes to increase access to housing by working directly with communities to determine what solution works for each specific scenario. “What’s going ACTIVIST ALERT PROTESTS, ACTIVISM AND MORE AROUND LANE COUNTY “I do not know of any salvation for soci- ety except through eccentrics, misfits, dissenters, people who protest.” Hall north building. Keep the pressure up to stop this behemoth from moving in and damaging the city. — William O. Douglas, U.S. Supreme Court justice Upcoming Protests, Rallies, Marches, Talks and Gatherings >> “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” documentary and discussion, 4 pm Sunday Jan. 25, People for Justice and Peace in Palestine, First Congrega- tional Church, 1050 East 23rd Avenue. >> Stop the Amazon Mega-Distri- bution Center!, 7:30 pm Monday Jan. 26, Eugene City Council meeting, City support.eugeneweekly.com Ongoing events at the Eugene Federal Building, 7th Avenue and Pearl Street. >> Veterans for Peace, Chapter 159, weekly protest, 1 pm to 2 pm Mondays. >> Protest ICE: Last Tuesday Mobi- lization Response, 10 am to 4 pm last Tuesday of each month. More at Linktr. ee/psleugene. Be available for rapid response via Tinyurl.com/Immigrant- DefenseSignal. >> Singing for Our Lives, noon to 1 pm Tuesdays, the BeLonging Space BY CAMILLA MORTENSEN and Interfaith Alliance with Migrants. Signs provided, wear all black. Indivisible. >> Silent Protest to Support Our Immigrant Neighbors, 1 pm to 2 pm Tuesdays. Signs provided, wear white or black. Indivisible Eugene/Springfield. Ongoing events >> Showing Up for Racial Justice and 50501 Weekly Protest, noon to 4 pm Wednesdays. Bring readings, songs, signs or other art. >> Weekly Vigils Against the Geno- cide in Gaza and Against ICE, 3 pm to 5:30 pm Wednesdays, Planet Versus Pentagon. >> “Signs of Fascism” Protest, 10 am to noon Thursdays. >> Resist! Persist! Repeat! Weekly Protest, 10 am to 11 am Mondays, corners on 29th and Willamette Street and 11 am to noon Mondays, corner of Coburg and Harlow roads. >> Make protest signs at MECCA, 11 am to 6 pm Tuesday through Satur- day; get help with signmaking 11 am to 1 pm Wednesdays, materials donated by Eugene Message Makers, make up to four signs for $5-10 donation to MECCA. >> Stop the Cuts, noon Fridays, Eugene Veterans Clinic, 3355 Chad Drive. January 22, 2026 5
