Found Poem: Panel at K&L Gates LLP

The following found poem is based on notes and personal observations I wrote down at an immigration panel entitled "Is Arizona the future of America?" Needless to say, I was already quite skeptical of the event given that the event took place at the offices of downtown Seattle Law Firm, "K&L Gates, LLP." In effect, policy heads, and lawyers were speaking on these matters far from where those who are most impacted by immigration policy are situated. This was a glaring contradiction with what the program entailed (I opted to omit the names of these organizations so as to not call them out directly). At any rate, that's the background of the poem below, lost for some time in my notebook until I rediscovered it yesterday.
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Found Poem: Panel at K&L Gates LLP

Allusion to Reagan
lack of brown people
few visible non-professionals
"talk to the middle"
political reasoning is
at root of policy,
fight as far as maintaining
monopoly over enforce-
ment. U.S. v. Arizona
lawsuit. Focus in on
federal litigation.
Allusion to class-oriented
appearance in deter-
mining who does, does not
"belong." "what is our
counter-narrative?"
privileged white lady
talks about her epiphany
that there is a war
zone at the border,
however, conservative
bigots are still "good
people." lack of analysis
of sociological roots
of xenophobia. "No right
to counsel" in immigration
proceedings. "Where is
the middle?" Getting ICE'd
"speak to people we
don't speak to.

Oscar Rosales Castañeda, C/S
8 July 2010