Meet the L.A. Print makers weaponizing art against ICE

This story is part of ICE vs. LA, a collaborative reporting project by LA Public Press, CALÓ News, Capital & Main, Capital B, L.A. TACO, and Q Voice.

It’s early November and slogans saying, “NO KINGS ONLY QUEENS” and “ABOLISH ICE!” line the walls of Nonstop Printing in Hollywood. 

Customers visiting the specialty print shop are greeted by an illustration of a man hiding an overstuffed money bag behind his back. This cartoon billionaire points an accusing finger over handdrawn text reading, “THEY BLAME IMMIGRANTS SO YOU WON’T BLAME BILLIONAIRE$.”  

Leiman Chan, Nonstop Printing’s owner, tells L.A. TACO that he works with many politically-engaged artists and designers. He proudly shows off his store display of anti-fascist protest signs that feature messages calling out President Donald Trump, exploitative billionaires, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Describing himself as a former “conservative Christian,” Chan explains that working with local artists transformed his personal politics. 

“As I had to engage with clients in Hollywood that have a lot of different viewpoints, I had to get comfortable in the gray,” Chan tells L.A. TACO. He credits Nonstop’s clients for his shift from conservatism to “hyper-progressive.”  

Asked if he was “radicalized” by print, Chan laughs and says, “Yeah, kind of!” 

That’s why, when the federal immigration raids ramped up in Los Angeles and protesters took to the streets in June, Chan decided to make a statement the only way he knew how: by printing thousands of protest signs and distributing them for free.

In the days leading up to the first No King’s rally on June 14, Nonstop posted videos to social media announcing a “secret stash” of resistance signs that demonstrators could pick up for free. Across TikTok and Instagram, the videos received more than 100,000 views. 

When the first batch of free posters ran out, Nonstop simply printed more. 

Chan estimates his company distributed 1,500 to 2,000 free protest signs. 

One of the artists who printed resistance signs with Nonstop was Christine LêSantos, an illustrator publishing a children’s comic book series called “Legendaries.” In response to the Trump administration’s attacks on immigrants, LêSantos decided to create artwork that served a functional purpose.  

The L.A.-based designer launched a print emblazoned with the words “ABOLISH ICE” in fiery, hand-drawn lettering. An illustration of a melted ice cube sits atop a list of constitutional immigrant rights, printed in English and Spanish. 

“I decided to say ‘abolish’ instead of ‘fuck’ because I wanted it to be able to be plastered everywhere,” LêSantos tells L.A. TACO, a decision that was validated when teachers purchased her poster and displayed them in classrooms. “I think it gave a little bit more accessibility to the information.” 

LêSantos initially released the design as a charity risograph print, donating proceeds to Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) and National Day Laborer Organizing Network, as well as various GoFundMes. (Full disclosure: ILRC, a national nonprofit providing free legal resources to immigrants, has previously sponsored L.A. TACO.) 

After receiving a positive response from her community, she decided to distribute the print for free, ahead of the No Kings rally in June. 

“The way that it spread around L.A. was kind of a community effort,” LêSantos says. “I started reaching out to print shops that I felt aligned with what the statement was and what I was trying to do, and there were [two] — Nonstop and Vivia Print — that were very open to printing these for free to give out to the community.” 

According to LêSantos, she’s seen her immigrant rights signs pop up in restaurants and shops across L.A. County, including Mirate in Los Feliz, Coffee Commissary in Burbank and Nova Community Arts in Atwater Village. She says the prints have also been passed around Santa Ana, Oakland, and even as far as Lansing, Michigan. 

To make her informational signs even more accessible, LêSantos also created a free PDF version of the “ABOLISH ICE” illustration for people across the country to download and print at home. 

Asked about her artistic process, LêSantos credits her upbringing by refugee parents as one of the driving forces behind her work.  

“My parents came to the states because they were fleeing a war, and I think that I had the privilege of growing up in L.A. in a very multicultural community. So, a lot of my work stems from that place,” she says.

Her experience as a Vietnamese-Chinese American raised by immigrant parents is one of several intersecting identities that inform her art.  

“It’s always going to influence my work,” she says. “But, also, being married to an immigrant will influence my work, and being married to a Mexican woman will influence my work, and being queer, and all these different intersectionalities.” 

Beyond LêSantos’ resistance signs, other artists opted for different types of print formats. Clarke e. Andros and Marika Dahlin, for example, collaborated with Nonstop Printing to distribute “No ICE” info cards.  

On one side, the wallet-sized card features a lotería-style ice cube illustration with the number 1312—meaning “ACAB” or “All Cops Are Bastards”— in the top left corner. The other side of the card provides a script for people to use if they’re detained by ICE. 

Andros, a writer and high school teacher at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica, originated the concept and pitched it to Dahlin, the multidisciplinary artist behind the card’s illustration. The two worked in collaboration with Nonstop Printing to produce a free print and release it as an open-source piece of art. 

Andros tells L.A. TACO that he was inspired after seeing “Know Your Rights” red cards distributed to students being tossed aside or shoved in pockets haphazardly.  

He wanted to create a “multi-dimensional” piece of art that functions as a resource to help immigrant communities being targeted by federal agents. Physical media that people would want to hang on to because it makes a statement and has artistic merit. 

“The way that [immigration agents] are abducting our neighbors who we depend on, the way that they are separating families, the way that they are boot-licking for a fascist government,” Andros says about the “ACAB” reference on the artwork. “They deserve that. As long as our city government is not going to prioritize restorative practices to rebuild our communities through the aftermath of decades of police violence, I think the label still stands.” 

Andros says that, thanks to a donation from Nonstop Printing, he and his collaborators were able to pass out about 5,000 free informational cards at the No Kings protest.  

Lamenting the fact that Nonstop is being forced to move its operations to San Diego in mid-November after longstanding financial struggles, he praises the print shop’s impact on local artists and communities. Five months after they initially distributed the prints, he still sees the “No ICE” cards in use around the city. 

As a literature teacher and poet, naturally, Andros' thoughts on the role of resistance artwork turn philosophical. He believes protest art helps shed light on targeted immigrant communities by creating empathy and understanding of the “Other.” 

“The art that we consume helps us understand the Other, empathize with the Other, cherish the Other, and take care of the Other,” Andros says. “That is how we combat these issues.”