Support Pours In For N.Y. Immigrant After Post-Election Harassment

Enlarge this image toggle caption Zach Hirsch/North County Public Radio Zach Hirsch/North County Public Radio

Editor's note: This story contains language that some may find objectionable.

As an immigrant, Tenzin Dorjee did everything he was supposed to do and more. Born in Bhutan, Dorjee is a naturalized U.S. citizen who has lived in upstate New York for nine years.

He runs a successful restaurant, as well as an arts festival, in the tiny town of Plattsburgh, near the U.S.-Canadian border.

Over the years, he has been singled out a few times — but nothing like what he experienced the day after the election.

"It was a couple of guys standing next to a couple of trucks. And that's when they say, 'Hey chink, get the F out of my country. Go back to where you came from.' And I just smiled at them," he says, sighing. "Then it happened again."

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In fact, in the past few weeks, he has been harassed repeatedly for being an immigrant, from racist slurs hurled his way to vandalism of his car.

Dorjee is a Buddhist. But the recent events shook him up so much that he considered buying a gun for protection, of himself and his family.

Then, his community rallied — powerfully and publicly — behind him.

A longer version of this story is available at North Country Public Radio.