From “New American” by Huascar Meina

From "New American" 
by Huascar Medina

I am not your invader
not an animal
nor criminal
I am a just person
just striving
in a New America

During the 2024 presidential campaign trail, Donald Trump accused immigrants of eating cats and dogs. Dehumanizing immigrants, even those with legal documentation, is Trump’s bread and butter. For someone whose followers say doesn’t have a racist bone in his body, the orange Hitler does say a lot of racist shit.

In a similar theme to Valeria Ruiz’s “You Know Me,” Huascar Medina explores the immigrant experience and the tensions between the dual identity of being an immigrant (or child of immigrants) and being a citizen to this country. He doesn’t idealize the old American Dream (“This is New America/student loans for all/high rent /higher utilities /low pay/rising healthcare costs/the cost of living/—deadly), but dreams of a New America (We all dream of a greater America/I want you to be paid a living wage/live in affordable housing/without college debt/or medical debt/or credit card debt/or national debt/I want no more racism”).

He acknowledges the endurance immigrant laborers experience and just how often their work goes unnoticed or ignored by those of “old” America.

You can read the poem in full at Poets.org.