14 NOVEMBER 20-26, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Clothes Call WANT TO SEND A MESSAGE TO TRUMP? SHIRT HAPPENS! BY BENNITO L. KELT Y Turning out by the thousands at protests this year, Denver residents have shown their anger with President Donald Trump and Immigra- tion and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency responsible for raids and deportations. So that these protesters can wear their hearts on their sleeves, artist Lena Dechamps has created a line of hoodies and T-shirts with the message “Fuck ICE” and “No Kings.” Locals have written the same message in riskier spots, like on electronic traffi c signs; Dechamps designed her hoodies and tees so that people can deliver the message daily. She unveiled the line on October 18 and sold out only a couple of weeks later; she plans to release more with the same message on De- cember 1 and sell them through the website for her studio, BoneBLACK. Dechamps revealed the “Fuck ICE” line the day before the No Kings 2 protest. The T-shirts sell for $25 and the sweaters for $60, and all the proceeds from the initial sweater sales went to the Colorado Rapid Response Network, which manages a hotline to report ICE activity and raids. Dechamps says she sold about 85 hoodies and about fi fty T-shirts during that period. The hoodies have a dark green camou- fl age design with “Fuck ICE” drawn on the back and “No Kings” as a smaller seal on the front. The T-shirt is a dim-white tone with “Fuck ICE” on the front, along with a draw- ing of a fl aming match reading a newspaper and “Abolish Detention/Abolish Deporta- tion” written in red below that. The part that reads “Fuck ICE” is a black-and-white design that depicts a shadowy puppeteer’s hands gesturing around the lettering. It represents “deception” in politics, she explains. “It was important not to be subtle about it. We live in an era in which I think we have a government that’s putting the fear in us to not speak up,” she says. “I wanted the mes- saging to be pretty direct: Fuck ICE, no kings in our country.” According to Latino advocacy groups, some of the largest ICE raids this year have been in Colorado. Dozens were arrested dur- ing raids at apartments in early February, no- table activist Jeanette Vizguerra was arrested in March, and more than 200 people were arrested in July during operations in Aurora and Denver. Now, ICE plans to add more im- migrant detention centers in the state, since the Aurora facility maxes out at 1,400 people. Protests like the Fifty State in February, ICE! Out in June and No Kings 2 on October 18 have seen thousands turn out in Denver to decry Trump and ICE, but other rallies during the summer saw a sharp decline in attendance. Dechamps has been out protest- ing, too, and hopes her clothing can help energize the fatigued if they’re too tired to demonstrate. “Something that helps them feel like they are contributing without having to raise a fi st every day at the front line,” she says. “I would be happy to see [my apparel] in everyday life, out in the grocery store, and out and about at night. I don’t want to take the protest piece out of it, but the idea is that we can take a stand in our everyday life without the rally.” Dechamps is a fi rst-generation U.S. citi- zen. Her parents and twin sister immigrated from Germany in the 1990s for work, so news of ICE raids “felt a little close to home to me,” she saeys, while noting that Germans aren’t targeted as much as other immigrants because Trump only wants ICE to deport non-Whites. But she’s not comfortable with the differentiation. “My family being more European-based is not judged as heavily as some other nation- alities,” she says. “That also brings out the rage in me, this delineation, this designating better or worse immigrants.” Dechamps has been in Denver for eleven years. Much of her artwork has been murals and branding for hotels, bars and restaurants like Cart-Driver, Yacht Club, Brasserie Brix- ton, and the Reynard Social Club at the Hyatt. Her work with Denver’s food and hospitality industry has increased her concerns regard- ing how local ICE raids will impact those employees and businesses, she says. On December 1, she’ll be selling her “Fuck ICE” apparel at Run for the Roses, a bar at 1801 Blake Street; she plans to have about fi fty sweaters and fi fty shirts available. The merchandise will be the same price as it is online, but Dechamps will also accept the equivalent in canned goods for the Food Bank of the Rockies or warm outerwear for Coats for Colorado. Email the author at [email protected]. CULTURE KEEP UP ON DENVER ARTS AND CULTURE AT WESTWORD.COM/ARTS The $25 tee and $60 hoodies both have a “Fuck ICE” design showing a shadowy puppeteer’s hands. COURTESY OF LENA DECHAMPS
