IT'S A SCARY TIME to be an immigrant or refugee in this country, with President Donald Trump’s rise to power leaving already-vulnerable populations feeling even more exposed.
Trump’s campaign rhetoric has given way to anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim policies, with the new president’s Muslim-targeted travel ban currently caught up in the court system. His aggressive deportation policies for undocumented immigrants—coupled with a proposed wall along the Mexico border—are taking shape.
Here in Portland, the writing’s literally on the wall. It didn’t take long after Trump’s victory for what the city labels “hate” graffiti to start popping up around town.
“Trump Baby! Deport the shitskins,” read one of a number of swastika-adorned tags in the Reed College library in mid-November. “Fuck all you liberal niggers die,” read another.
In all, the city documented 23 separate instances of hateful graffiti—mostly swastikas, with a handful of “fuck feminism” tags—and 60 instances of political graffiti between November 8 and February 2, according to the city’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI). That’s compared to just one “hate” tag and zero political tags during the same timeframe a year prior. ONI Graffiti Abatement Officer Juliette Muracchioli says the uptick in both is tied to the election.