California residents are being hit with racist graffiti attacking their immigration status

At first, Long Beach resident Joe Solis thought his car might’ve been vandalized because he parked illegally.

It was only later, he told CBS LA, that it dawned on him that the spray-painted word “illegal” across his bright yellow Volkswagen might be a hate crime, with the perpetrator targeting him for his heritage.

“I’m not illegal. I’m six generations deep,” Solis told the news station. “It did open my eyes to this negative thing that’s out there.”

Solis wasn’t the only one hit with anti-immigrant vandalism in the area last weekend. At least two other cars and the sign at the local Methodist church were also hit.

But despite the negativity, Solis also said his neighbors have rallied around him in the wake of the vandalism, like leaving him a note of support that reads, “Hey, we love you in our neighborhood and this shouldn’t happen.”

They’re absolutely right. But in an age where previously protected immigrants of all ages are being ripped away from their families and perhaps even sent back to a country that might never have been their own, it’s not hard to imagine why they are.