A difficult title: I started simply wanting to collect “anti-ICE” poems, but obviously that kind of negative focus potentially limits the collection in terms of tone and substance. So this is something a little more broad. AS WITH ANY LIST, this is absolutely incomplete; it’s just a handful of poems (with a particular emphasis on spoken word and performance videos) that I’ve come across in my work and that I’d consider using in education/advocacy settings.

Same idea with my lists on Palestine poems, consent poems, whiteness poems, and various other lists here – these lists are “snapshots” of a much larger range of work that engage with an issue in a compelling way. If nothing else, I’m just setting up this page for myself, so I can have a quick reference when I want to find these poems. But if they can be useful to you too, even better!

• Carlos Andrés Gómez – 12 Reasons to Abolish C.B.P & I.C.E
• Denice Frohman – Borders
• Joaquín Zihuatanejo – Poetry Prompts for Detained Children
• José Olivarez – When We Win and against citizenship
• Fatimah Asghar – If They Come For Us
• Pages Matam – Immigration & Customs Entemophobia – On Sight!
• Paola Gonzalez & Karla Gutierrez – At The Wall, US/Mexican Border, Texas, 2020
• Kevin Yang – Come Home (or 8 Responses to the Phrase ‘Go Back to Where You Came From’)
• Ada Limón – A New National Anthem
• Bao Phi – Refugerequiem
• Mercedez Holtry – We’re Here to Stay
• Tatiana Ormaza and Juliana Hu Pegues – Under the Table

If you’re here because you already know me, I could also mention my own poems like Discourse (Let Your Heart Be a Whistle) or Dust, or songs like Worthy of the Stone; it’s an ongoing writing prompt/challenge as we head into the new year – both for myself, and to share with my community. Please feel free to take it on too.

Once again, I’ll just reiterate that this list is woefully incomplete, just a snapshot of the incredible work being done right now by poets, writers, and other culture workers. Let’s keep adding to this list, both in a literal sense and a figurative one.