We, the Undocumented
We, the undocumented who are grateful to have survived the deserts, border fences, speeding cars, freezing trucks, strangers, white border militias, rattlesnakes, trailers, and rushing waters.
We, the undocumented who feel guilty for having survived the deserts, border fences, speeding cars, freezing trucks, strangers, white border militias, rattlesnakes, trailers, and rushing waters,
Because San Antonio in 2022.
Because another semi parked outside a Walmart in 2017.
Because border enforcement and climate change are making it hotter and deadlier.
We, the undocumented, cover our skins with steak seasoning inside refrigeration trucks to deter the dogs at the crossing ports of entry. Over fifty people dead. The huddled masses.
Border patrol has been growing since 1918. FW Berkshire dreamed of a unit that was not the army. It was supposed to be a special unit that knew the conditions of border life.
Border life is deadly.
Border life is politicians who chose to be ignorant because they know that open borders do not kill people in freezers.
It was Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden. Rinse and repeat.
Border life is spilled across every square inch of the United States.
We, the undocumented know that these presidents keep building border industries. Billions of dollars are invested in the illusion of the border that is only used for political dog-and-pony shows at midterms and general elections.
We, the undocumented who cross police cars that are really Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE keeps getting stronger.
We don’t need ICE. Migrants need ice in the hot unrefrigerated semi-trailer.
They were hot to the touch and too disoriented to get out of the trailer.
The Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection is only going to use San Antonio to bolster their support for more US imperial endeavors in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. They are going to buy more advertisement campaigns on the radio to entice youth to stay behind in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico and make it better without saying the United States created the problems.
Tears that fill cups can never serve as hydration inside a red semi trailer parked on an empty road in San Antonio.
Pain and anguish run through our skins for those who died in the trailer esperando.
The scent of steak seasoning lingers in the air.
We, the undocumented.