ANGRY
I’m white
And I’m not proud
I’m an American
And I’m embarrassed
This country’s tilted
Far to the Right
And I’m rolling off
Into the abyss
Of what Trump
Has wrought.
I don’t feel safe
I’m worried blue.
The Trumpists blare
And I feel scared
But not as much
As a Guatemalan Mom
Whose arms are empty
Her children gone
And placed in cages
In internment towns.
It’s a replay
Of the ugly days
When we chose
To lock up folks
With yellow skin.
Now the skin’s brown
But it’s still a sin
We commit today
Against the folks
Who chose to run away
From terror at home.
US president Donald Trump began a "zero tolerance" policy of deterring illegal immigration from Mexico in April 2018. It included separating children from parents who were being prosecuted, but by June it became clear that the policy did not include any measures to reunite families. The government confirmed that 1,995 children had been separated, since the inception, plus an unknown number of families that requested asylum at the border. Despite an executive order on 20 June that ended the family separation, the practice continued. It was reported in September that 12,800 children were in custody, though many critics believe the actual number was higher. When questioned by the House of Representatives in March 2019 the secretary of homeland security insisted that the chain-link enclosures used to house the detained children were not "cages" but rather "detention spaces" that "are carved out for the safety and protection of those who remain there while they’re being processed."
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