Sign of the times: A slew of anti-ICE billboards has gone up around Spokane amid Trump immigration crackdown

Two new billboards were set to be unveiled Monday in the Spokane area.

Instead of an advertisement for a new beer or a public health campaign, these depict a political cartoon of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer pointing a gun at a mother and child.

Both of the billboards, funded by Eastern Washington organization WeAreGettingScrewed.org, quote a Bible verse, Matthew 25:40, which reads, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

The two billboards, which stand in Spokane on North Nevada Street and East Francis Avenue and in Spokane Valley on Sullivan and Broadway, aren’t the only anti-ICE billboards in the area.

A retired local professor is paying for three similarly themed billboards in Spokane in the hope they will help people feel less alone in the current political climate.

Anthony Flinn, a retired English professor at Eastern Washington University, purchased the first billboard in November, before ICE killed two people – 37-year-old Alex Pretti and 37-year-old Renee Good – protesting immigration enforcement’s presence in Minneapolis.

“The more people see these, wherever they are, the better, so I’m going to continue renting billboard space, always hoping for fresh views, for as long as my billboard fund holds out,” Flinn said in an email to The Spokesman-Review. “… The Minneapolis murders made the viciousness all that much more intense and obvious, but we have to remember that others have died in ICE custody as well.”

One of the billboards funded by Flinn, which reads “If this is the ICE-ing, the cake is poison,” was in Spokane Valley westbound on Sprague just before I-90 and recently moved to Monroe Street in Spokane.

Spokane Valley Councilman Al Merkel called the billboards a waste of money.

“This entire issue seems to somehow revolve around law enforcement who have been enforcing the (immigration) laws for 40 years. What I haven’t heard anybody say is ‘Hey, let’s change the law,’ ” Merkel said. “… As a Honduran, as a Hispanic person who speaks Spanish, I think that the law is well-executed the way that it is.”

Merkel said the anti-ICE movement is part of an effort to attack police officers.

The “ICE-ing” billboard is the second of three Flinn purchased. The other two are on Second Avenue and Trent in Spokane. One says, “Hell has come to America,” and the other asks, “Is this the America you grew up in? Is this the America you want for your children?”

WAGS is a local organization founded and formed by two brothers, Rod and Randy Michaelis, and Petra Hoy. The organization is independent from all political parties, Randy Michaelis said in an interview with The Spokesman-Review. The political cartoons featured on WAGS billboards are all done by Milt Priggee, who worked for The Spokesman-Review beginning in 1987.

“We’re designed to influence those who didn’t vote, those who regret their vote because of things that have happened and those who have been adversely affected by the current administration. We’re not trying to convince red or blue hats, we’re focused on swing voters,” Michaelis said.

The organization is typically focused on economic issues in its billboards, Michaelis said. While it’s not a faith-based organization, Michaelis said including a scripture in the billboard was important to them.

“We know there are a number of people who consider themselves Christians and they have struggled with this (immigration enforcement) because the scripture is pretty clear,” Michaelis said.

The billboards funded by WAGS will be up until Easter. Donations that are given to WAGS pay for the billboard and website expenses. None of the money goes to Michaelis, his brother or Hoy, he said.

Spokane City Councilman Michael Cathcart said he’s seen at least one of the billboards.

“I’m not sure if billboards are the most effective means of communicating their message in terms of changing policy, changing law. Obviously targeting lawmakers in D.C. would be the most effective way to do that,” Cathcart said. “I may not like what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”

Spokane can pass policy, just like Washington has, that federal law enforcement are not required to abide by, Cathcart said.

Each of the billboards costs $900 to $1,200 every month, Flinn said.

Flinn is paying for the three billboards out of pocket. He said he is motivated to keep them up for as long as possible so people can feel less alone in their moral revulsion.

“I think many, many, of us are profoundly alarmed, but with alarm comes fury that’s perhaps bottled now, but it’s a very fine American vintage,” Flinn wrote. “… I’m not so arrogant as to imagine that I’ll be changing the minds of those who believe these ICE tactics are somehow reasonable and appropriate. What I might be able to do, though, is provide a little hope, a little support to my fellow Americans who look on these tactics with horror. Such public declarations as this billboard could help people feel less afraid, less alone in their fear and disgust, less defeated.”

Flinn said the language in the U.S. Constitution , Declaration of Independence and Emma Lazarus’ poem on the Statue of Liberty inspire him to be a better person and care about the well-being of his neighbors, “whether they’re across the street or on the other side of the world.” But he was hesitant to purchase the billboards, Flinn said.

“That apprehension, that there could be unfortunate repercussions, was clarifying: because I had the means to act, I felt a moral imperative to do … something,” Flinn wrote.