Maine’s position on the Canadian border has made it a ripe target for Donald Trump‘s anti-immigration crusade. Community support for the president in the state has long been divided, with more rural areas tending to support him. This week, Portland flyers protesting Trump and ICE made it clear where others in the state stand. Using immigration enforcement as a pretext to detain political enemies? It’s a standard tool among authoritarian regimes. It’s also a technique that Trump and Hitler have in common, as Portland’s flyers point out.
Cutting the Department of Education? Freezing scientific research funding? Detaining student protestors? Threatening U.S. citizens with deportation for condemning the Palestinian genocide? There’s no shortage of reasons to protest Trump. Many are doing so at rallies, actions, and protests across the country. Flyers condemning Trump and ICE in Portland are hardly a surprise. That’s particularly true since Trump performed worse in the state’s more urban areas during the last election.
A Reddit post by u/According_Air7321 featuring some of the Portland flyers garnered over 1.3k upvotes and many supportive comments. One flyer shows a U.S. soldier smiling as he drinks coffee. It reads, “Americans Kill Nazis.” Another says “Abolish I.C.E.,” referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Also featured is a detailed document outlining a person’s rights when approached by ICE agents. It’s a simple but effective way for community members to keep one another safe. As one commenter said,
the irony of the warning sticker (first slide) is that the nazis based some of their takeover on the US Jim Crow laws we’re really coming full circle here. [sic]
That’s something the average American probably still struggles to acknowledge, despite ample proof. Thankfully, the protest flyers against Trump in Portland are loud enough for everyone. There are countless vital forms of speech, and public art is one of them. While protests and die-ins may command the headlines, quieter forms of self-expression and resistance are simmering underneath.
