by Pepper Trail
US President Donald Trump on Sunday directed federal authorities to ramp up deportation efforts in Democratic-led cities, doubling down on a politicized anti-immigration drive after major protests in Los Angeles. "We must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America's largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. "These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center," he claimed, citing debunked right-wing conspiracy theories that undocumented immigrants are voting in US elections in significant numbers. —AFP News, June 16, 2025
Welcome to the New America
Homeland Security will not be interrupted
Agents stand ready with their zip-ties
See? The Senator is thrown to the floor
Homeland Security will not be interrupted
No dissent, no questions are permitted
The Senator is thrown to the floor
Understand? You are powerless. You are all powerless
No dissent, no questions are permitted
Every immigrant is “the worst of the worst”
Understand? You are all powerless.
Don’t want the National Guard? Here are the Marines
Every immigrant is “the worst of the worst”
Every day laborer, janitor, and nanny—a criminal
Homeland Security will not be interrupted
Agents stand ready with their zip-ties
See? The Senator is thrown to the floor
Homeland Security will not be interrupted
No dissent, no questions are permitted
The Senator is thrown to the floor
Understand? You are powerless. You are all powerless
No dissent, no questions are permitted
Every immigrant is “the worst of the worst”
Understand? You are all powerless.
Don’t want the National Guard? Here are the Marines
Every immigrant is “the worst of the worst”
Every day laborer, janitor, and nanny—a criminal
Don’t want the National Guard? Here are the Marines
Let’s be clear—there is nothing we won’t do
Every day laborer, janitor, and nanny—a criminal
Nowhere is safe—no school, courthouse, or church
There is nothing we won’t do
We have a mandate. You have no rights
Nowhere is safe—no school, courthouse, or church
We will take you, and you are gone.
You have no rights. We have a mandate
We will dispose of you as we please
Our agents stand ready with their zip-ties
We will take you, and you are gone
We will dispose of your rights as we please
Welcome to the New America
Let’s be clear—there is nothing we won’t do
Every day laborer, janitor, and nanny—a criminal
Nowhere is safe—no school, courthouse, or church
There is nothing we won’t do
We have a mandate. You have no rights
Nowhere is safe—no school, courthouse, or church
We will take you, and you are gone.
You have no rights. We have a mandate
We will dispose of you as we please
Our agents stand ready with their zip-ties
We will take you, and you are gone
We will dispose of your rights as we please
Welcome to the New America
Pepper Trail is a poet and naturalist based in Ashland, Oregon. His poetry has appeared in Rattle, Atlanta Review, Spillway, Kyoto Journal, Cascadia Review, and other publications, and has been nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net awards. His collection Cascade-Siskiyou was a finalist for the 2016 Oregon Book Award in Poetry.