Several campaign signs for Democratic congressional candidate Salaam Bhatti were vandalized over the weekend with professionally printed flyers telling him to “return to your homeland” in multiple languages.
The flyers also featured the hashtag #Remigration, a term that has become closely associated with European far-right political movements that advocate the large-scale removal of immigrants
Supporters generally describe remigration as the large-scale return of immigrants to their countries of origin, while critics argue the concept extends beyond immigration enforcement to include the removal of legal immigrants and, in some cases, their descendants. The slogan has gained increasing prominence among nationalist political parties and activists across Europe in recent years.
“For me to remigrate, I would have to go back to Pennsylvania,” Bhatti said.
Bhatti said he first discovered the flyers over the weekend after returning from Williamsburg. He estimates at least two or three campaign signs in western Henrico were targeted, while campaign signs at Hanover’s early voting location were stolen entirely. “We had our campaign signs at the Hanover early voting location,” Bhatti said. “Those were all stolen, but the other candidate signs were still there.”
Bhatti said every flyer appeared professionally produced. “They’re all identical,” he said.
While the source of the campaign flyers remains unknown, similar racist and anti-immigrant propaganda has surfaced in the Richmond area in recent years. There is no known surveillance footage of the incidents, and Bhatti said the campaign has not filed a police report. Although the flyers are a new form of vandalism, Bhatti said hostile messages directed toward him are not.
“We get death threats on social media all the time,” he said.
Replacing the damaged signs is relatively inexpensive, Bhatti said, but the adhesive used to attach the flyers permanently ruins them. “They’re using some sort of adhesion that you can’t remove. The sign gets damaged,” he said. Campaign yard signs cost about $3 to $4 each to replace.
In a statement released before speaking with RVA Magazine, Bhatti said the vandalism would not deter his campaign.
“Someone drove around this district at night putting ‘go back to your homeland’ on my signs in nine languages. I’ve spent my career helping tens of thousands of Virginian families get food on the table. I’m not going anywhere, and neither are the signs.”
Virginia’s Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District will be held Aug. 4, with Bhatti seeking the party’s nomination.
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