John,
Etsy built its reputation on ethical commerce, a place where values matter as much as products. But right now, it is hosting merchandise celebrating a modern-day monstrosity, the Alligator Alcatraz immigrant detention center.
Alligator Alcatraz is not just a nickname, it is a stain on our national conscience. A detention center set up by Trump in the Florida Everglades, built in FEMA trailers, caging people some of whom fled violence, next to actual alligator habitats. And now Etsy is letting people sell mugs, shirts, and hats like it is a theme park attraction.
The message it sends is that cruelty is a joke. That locking people in cages and leaving them to suffer under environmental and humanitarian abuses is something to slap on a sticker. It is not. It is a human rights violation.
Etsy’s own policies ban hateful content that targets immigrants and yet this dehumanizing merchandise remains online.
If we believe in a democracy where everyone matters, we must draw the line. Tell Etsy to remove Alligator Alcatraz merchandise now.
This is not a one-off mistake. Etsy has been warned, and even sellers have threatened to walk. Shoppers have deleted their accounts. Still, Etsy hides behind bots and automated replies while letting cruelty rake in cash.
If Etsy caves to profit over principle, others will follow. Amazon and eBay are already selling similar products. But Etsy is unique, it built its brand on human values.
Etsy’s silence is not neutral, it is a choice. A choice to ignore their community, to ignore decency, and to ignore democracy itself. We demand better from our leaders, from our platforms, from each other.
Add your name to demand that Etsy live up to its values. No platform that claims to be ethical should allow hate for sale.
Let’s show Etsy that when it comes to justice, we are not for sale.
- DFA AF Team
