WEBVTT

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We just organized a GoFundMe
where more than 45 cities

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across the United States--

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it's called Writer's
for Migrant Justice.

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And we have-- it's still open,
so you can still donate--

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and we have raised I
think, close to $35,000

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for immigrant
families, together.

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But again I haven't been
here, and north of here,

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there are about there are
three detention centers,

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like 35 minutes away.

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You are surrounded by
detention centers north of you,

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and below you, you're
surrounded by a fence.

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And it's-- and I'm
only here visiting,

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and it would be very strange.

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And I would love
to hear what it is

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like to live with that
reality, which I'm

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sure you put in the
back of your head,

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and you don't
really think about.

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But I went and drove around
in these detention centers

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and it was strange
to see, because I've

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seen the pictures of people
walking in to see them.

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I parked the car, and they
were as far away as you,

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and there were three
fences in between.

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And then I went to a--

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fuck, I forget the name
of that other city--

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Florence, and I've never
seen so many fucking jails,

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back to back to back.

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And one of the
jails was a county--

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or not a county, but a
state jail, and the inmates

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were closer to only one fence,
and you can drive by them.

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But the immigrants, who
are not really criminals,

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they have like three
fences in between.

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So it's just fucked up.

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And I'm going to ask, if you
can, if you can go on GoFundMe,

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there's this immigrant
who is detained at Eloy--

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and her name is
Zuleima with a Z.

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And all we're asking for is
$8,000, so she can be released.

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And you can look for
keyword Zuleima with a Z--

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Z U L E I M A, Z U L E I M A--

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she's a Cuban immigrant
who was fleeing

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because the government thought
that she was an organizer,

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and so she came here
thinking that she

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could apply for refugee status.

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And right now the GoFundMe
is at $1,000 at lunch

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this morning, so all
we're asking is for $8,000

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to post her bail.

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And once that money--

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if the bail does get accepted,
that money is going to go back

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and then we can use it to help
another immigrant post bail.

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So again, Z U L E I M A. You
can also look for-- and then

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come after me, if
you can't find it.

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OK?

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Thank you.

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And I'm going to
read one more poem.

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If I find it--

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and you have to forgive
me if I'm being preachy,

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but I rarely get to come here,
and I cross through here.

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And this is called,
"Detention Centers, USA,"

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and all you have to know--
if you remember in 2006,

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the biggest marches organized
since the Civil Rights Movement

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were organized by immigrants.

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And that happened in 2006, and
SSN is social security number.

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"Detention Centers, USA"

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"The creosote are dying because
still no one does anything.

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The few sobs that escaped
through the cracks

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of the windowless walls
soon melt. Inside, sobs

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look like ice because
it's cold in there.

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God-- whatever politics,
wherever you are--

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we know you can't
see everything,

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but did you remember to store
the children's favorite toys

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in the right place?

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The light of their shoes kept in
boxes, the rips of their shirts

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in the garbage.

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From up there the grackles
shout, "creosotes are dying"

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but all we can
tell ourselves is--

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someone else must
be doing something.

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The ones who always
rebuild after hurricanes

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and are named "ayuda
extranjeria," the ones who

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doubt absolutely everything--
you'll have to understand,

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we don't got real
social security numbers.

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The ones who marched
millions deep in 2006--

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in news, the alleged
kings and queens

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of bringing crimes, drugs--

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the very best bullshitters,
the only ones who answer to--

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can you fill my shift?

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The ones who never tell
strangers where they actually

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come from, the six-day
work day Sunday drinkers,

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the living room renters, the
I'll return once I save enough.

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The 5:00 AM will wait on
sidewalk for work workers,

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the we can eat anything,
the we can do anything,

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the we can sell anything.

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The first to empty out
their pockets, the Guanacos,

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Catrachos, Chapines,
hijos de la gran puta,

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the ones who couldn't
make it, the ones

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who made it and can't move on.

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The happy-- most happiest of the
world, my undocumented family,

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my eternal jokesters, my home."

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[APPLAUSE]

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