'Family Separation and Detention: A Rant' and Other Selected Poems

By Gilda L. Ochoa
Family Separation and Detention: A Rant
Too many politicians and other institutions perpetuating atrocities
implementing policies
fueled by rhetoric dehumanizing
Hiding the realities of why people are migrating
Masking decades of US policies
Funding repressive regimes
and military trainings in Central American countries Revealing the depths of US imperialism and white supremacy
Money making entities
Backed by federal agencies
Incarcerating
Separating families
Benefiting from policies destroying communities
What’s happening in these facilities? Who’s monitoring these entities? These growing tent-cities
Not designed for residency
We see the latest studies The drugging of babies People dying
Many more isolating No plans for reuniting
Calls for civility at a time of inhumanity Seems like gas lighting
Linked to centuries of silencing Challenging our collective memories About power and inequality
What are our responsibilities in the midst of these realities? As more people realize the historical and institutional ties Perpetuating these state-sanctioned crimes
Don’t you hear the cries?
They can’t be drowned out by continual lies
A LA Weekend Protest
A sea of white shirts
A manicured stage
US flags
Liberal politicians sharing the podium with religious leaders and called out by
Radical activists
Speaking truths
Linking the history of slavery to contemporary forms of separating families
Revolutionaries marching through
with their megaphones
Naming the systemic processes perpetuating atrocities
Backstage
Down the street
Hidden from view
The gray building
Surrounded by wire
A call and response
“You are not alone”
Between the chants
I heard the taps
Tap, tap, tap
Then the lights flickered
And the tears flowed
Across the street
A row of tents
Homelessness
This is the U.S.
American Generosity?
Alex Azar
Former drug company executive
Secretary of Heath and Human Services
Calling the stealing of Central American babies
Ripping apart of families
Such zero tolerance immigration policies
An act of American generosity
We see past this fallacy
Camouflaging realities
of abuse and corporate money making
We’ll have no part of this complacency
We know these are crimes against humanity
Rooted in a legacy of war funding
Exploiting our lands and communities
Devastating economies
Falsely cast as generosity
Don’t sell us your mythology
Call it what it is
White supremacy
Patriarchy, and
US imperialism
Homeland Security, Crimes Against Humanity
Morally repugnant
Counter-productive and
Ill-considered
Characterizing the separating of families
Morally repugnant
Counter-productive
Ill-considered
Say four of the resigning
Members of the Advisory Council of Homeland Security
Refusing to be associated with Trump’s immigration policies separating families
Children and families bravely tell the realities of mental, emotional, sexual and physical atrocities
In caged-in facilities
In what some call doghouses
Tents and office buildings not designed for residency
Dehydration, hunger and drugging
Lice, scabies, hitting
Policies of no hugging, even of siblings
Enforced sleeplessness
Freezing on concrete flooring
No mattresses
Limited showering and clean clothing
Surveillance
Posttraumatic stress
Where is the sense of urgency?
There’s a history of impunity
involved with separating families and human caging
Morally repugnant
Counter-productive and
Ill-considered
How do these words mistakenly camouflage?
Missing the depth
of This
State-Sanctioned Terror
These
Crimes
Against
Humanity
Gilda L. Ochoa is the daughter of a Nicaraguan immigrant and a second generation Sicilian American. Born and raised in Los Angeles County, she is Professor of Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies at Pomona College. Her most recent book Academic Profiling: Latinos, Asian Americans, and the Achievement Gap (2013) has received awards for its focus on race and eradicating racism. Ochoa’s earlier books include Becoming Neighbors in a Mexican American Community (2004), Learning from Latino Teachers (2007), and Latina/o Los Angeles (2005), co- edited with her brother Enrique C. Ochoa. Her poetry has appeared in Latino Rebels