IF I ASKED YOU TO THINK OF CLASSIC IMAGES from the Obama era, I bet one of the first to come to mind would be the HOPE poster: the iconic stencil from the 2008 campaign that portrays the then-future president in deep blue and red hues, created by artist Shepard Fairey from an AP photograph.

And if I told you the Trump White House created its own riff on that poster recently, what would you envision?

You would probably assume they gave the Shepard Fairey treatment to Donald Trump, right? Or maybe Melania? Or Stephen Miller, or something else just as cracked?

Nope. On May 3, the White House made such an image of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man wrongly sent to El Salvador. They gave him the iconic treatment ironically, replacing the word “HOPE” with “MS-13,” because this White House knows no shame and has no bottom.

Why is the White House working so hard to smear this man, even after the administration acknowledged it wrongly deported him to a prison in El Salvador known for human rights abuses? After defying a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court order to facilitate his return, the administration has become obsessed with winning the public-relations fight over who Abrego Garcia is, because We accidentally sent a Maryland dad to a foreign torture prison and can’t be bothered to get him back doesn’t poll well outside the extreme MAGA fringe. In the administration’s thinking, Abrego Garcia must be a villain—and in their telling, he’s a dangerous gang member no one should want to bring back into the country.

So how do they imagine the sarcastic hero art will help them counter the “Maryland dad” narrative?

It makes more sense when you consider the other side—the movement in support of Abrego Garcia, and the growth of its visualcomponent: the proliferation of art, posters, and signs defending him and calling upon the government to respect his rights. It all began with a call to action last month.

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Amir Fallah is an artist who exhibits his work around the world. One of his pieces is currently being shown at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Called “You Can’t Use an Old Map to Explore New Worlds,” it’s pretty badass.

Fallah’s neighbor is Chris Newman, one of the lawyers working on Abrego Garcia’s behalf. Fallah’s and Newman’s kids are best friends.

When the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), where Newman serves as general counsel, needed help to get the word out about their April 19 call to action for artists to create works about the injustice of Abrego Garcia’s case, Newman knew whom to call.

In partnership with Artists for Democracy, Fallah helped NDLON to engage artists from Los Angeles to New York; a couple hundred of them joined two days of Zoom calls to help get the initiative off the ground. And we’re not just talking about Instagram artists who sell their prints for $30 a pop. The call to action made waves in the art world thanks, in part, to its connection to Fairey, who was a 2024 co-chair of Artists for Democracy and involved in several anti-Trump art campaigns.

“As an American, it’s important to speak out about injustice every time you see it, especially as someone who came as a refugee,” Fallah, who is now a U.S. citizen, told The Bulwark while discussing his work to mobilize artists to call for Abrego Garcia’s release. “As an immigrant, as a tax-paying person who contributes my time and money, I hire people, and it’s my duty to speak out against our government essentially taking part in criminal activity.”

As I scrolled through NDLON’s Instagram posts, I saw the work of Seanna Latiff, 25, a Los Angeles artist, who donated three pieces—in red, white, and blue, respectively—that portray Abrego Garcia with his son under the inscription, “Bring Kilmar Home.”

Latiff told me her practice has always been about lifting up the victims of systemic injustice. She describes her work as a mode of healing for her, and as a way for her to share in and destigmatize collective grief.

“The portrait of him and his son is a way to remind people that no one experiences harm alone or in isolation—he’s part of a family, it’s a sacred connection,” she said. “I wanted to amplify the voice of a child that can’t advocate for themselves.”

Mala Iqbal, whose parents are immigrants who settled in New York, has been an artist for as long as she can remember. Her piece also featured Abrego Garcia holding his son, but in her depiction, he stands behind a wall of barbed wire.

“It’s incredibly disturbing that due process is being ignored,” she said. “Kilmar and others are having their rights trampled upon.”

Fallah had to work fast to coordinate participating artists: NDLON needed to get their work to printers in time for posters and signs to be produced for May Day demonstrations; Abrego Garcia’s case featured prominently in this year’s events. As thousands marched in cities across the country, many held up signs that said “Bring Kilmar Home” or “Free Kilmar.”

Organizers modeled the call to action after Alto Arizona!, a campaign following the passage of anti-immigrant bill SB 1070, which became state law in Arizona in April 2010. Fairey also made a piece for that campaign in a style similar to that of his HOPE poster; it has since attained iconic status in the immigration-rights space, and prints from the original run go for a cool $2,500.

Erika Andiola, who serves as the political director for NDLON and helped organize the Phoenix May Day event, spoke to me about why political art strikes such a powerful chord.

“I think art can help shape culture; it can help to shape emotions and the way people feel about an issue more than just a court case or what they see on the news,” she told The Bulwark.

She said Abrego Garcia’s story in particular has resonated with people because of how the White House has lied and created a false narrative about him, one that people don’t seem to be buying. His situation is also a cautionary tale.

“From what I’ve seen and heard around me, people are afraid they will be next,” she said. “If the administration is willing to send someone to such a dangerous place, willing to make up lies, distort the facts, and ignore the courts, they could start with Kilmar, but move onto other people.”

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