On Jan. 27, Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations announced it would print pro-immigration, anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement and mutual aid designs at no cost.
Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations is a clothing printing company based in the Lehigh Valley. The campaign followed the death of Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who was killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis, and an increase in violence arising from ICE activity nationwide.
The company said at least 50% of profits from the campaign will be donated to charity. Customers still pay for blank shirts and shipping, but the design printing is free.
Chris Regec, the owner and operator of Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, started the business 15 years ago in his parents’ shed. The company’s political roots trace back more than 20 years to the Lehigh Valley’s DIY punk scene, where Regec began printing shirts as a way to get involved.
“Politics has always stayed with me,” Regec said. “My dad was a union laborer at Mack Truck, my grandfather was a union laborer at Bethlehem Steel, so that sort of working class pride and blue collar, class solidarity has always been a part of my life. We try to engage with the community through this place. It’s more than just a capitalist venture.”
Regec said he aims to do what’s best for his community and its residents, even if it’s not always what’s best for business.
“I would say opposition to ICE is not a political stance,” Regec said. “I think opposition to ICE is a humanitarian response.”
That community-oriented outlook influenced the anti-ICE campaign. Regec said everyone at the company, even those not directly impacted by ICE activity, wanted to respond to the nationwide turmoil.
Jake Prolog, an artist and employee at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, said recent ICE activity doesn’t sit right with the company.
“Using our platform and network that we have is really a useful tool for us,” Prolog said “We’re not out there in the streets protesting per se, but we’re doing our part.”
Prolog collaborated with Regec to organize the initiative after seeing a similar campaign on Instagram. With Regec’s approval, Prolog created the campaign flier.
Since the flier was released, Prolog said the company has received orders from new customers, including people who hadn’t previously heard of the business.
Prolog began working with Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations in November 2024. He received a degree in applied digital art and previously worked under the name Pantaloop on Instagram.
He said art can break through the noise of online discourse, making important messages more accessible rather than simply presenting opinions.
“Art as an act of resistance and using it as a vessel to speak what’s on your mind I think is super important.” Prolog said. “It’s just really important for artists to speak up, and if they have a platform use it.”
Prolog said art can also bring communities together by expressing shared feelings during tumultuous times. He’s participated in other political art initiatives, including an anti-ICE art gallery hosted in Allentown by the Alternative Gallery.
Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations isn’t alone. Several businesses across Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley have launched anti-ICE initiatives.
Blind Tiger Coffee, an owner-operated coffee roasting company and cafe in Bethlehem run by Charlie Biando, is among them.
“Blind Tiger Coffee is an owner-operated small business, it does not operate in a vacuum; we believe in community,” Biand said. “Things that happen in our community, it affects Blind Tiger, even if it’s on an emotional level, because where does it end?”
Blind Tiger Coffee partnered with the Club Real World cooperative and other local businesses to host a Bingo fundraiser event, with all proceeds benefiting the Lehigh Valley Emergency Response Network.
The Lehigh Valley Emergency Response Network supports immigrants and reminds them of their rights when facing immigration-related challenges and recent ICE activity.
Biando said the business joined the fundraiser because it believes in the network’s mission and wanted to offer a tangible way for people to get involved.
“I don’t think it’s the hardest thing for any business currently to stand up and say what is happening is wrong,” Biando said. “We all have neighbors that are being affected by this that are afraid to go outside. If folks want to get involved in this volunteer network and are concerned, then this is a way of doing good work.”
Regec said many businesses founded in the past 15 to 20 years in the Lehigh Valley aim to give back and focus on more than profit margins.
“We don’t have the luxury of impacting things on a global scale all the time,” Regec said. When we can, I think we should try to make the world a better place, but also, that starts at a grass roots level.”
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