The Children Be Damned

Why did you send your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,  

Your wretched refuse, your homeless, from your shore 

Crossing our border from far across the sea? 

  

We do not want them here. 

Go away, 

We have shut the door. 

If you sneak in 

We will take your children away from you, 

We will cage them in conditions that  

even murderers do not endure. 

We will not keep track of where we send them. 

We will not facilitate your contact with them. 

We do not care if they are scared and lonely. 

We do not care if parents are worried. 

We do not care if the children are lost in the ICE bureaucracy. 

We are the US government. 

We are turning off the lamp. 

  

 [with deference to Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus,” 1883] 

Actual Dr. Seuss cartoon from 1941.  Used under "fair use" provision of copyright law.