We are told
The Devil is found
Within the fine print
Of any agreement.
The fountain pen ink
Barely finished drying
On President Trump's latest
Executive order.
Before the jubilant cheering
Of the Zero Tolerance opposition
Has reached deafening levels
Only a whimper is heard
Instead.
Magnifying scanners
And legalese translation software
Are ordered forward
To see what demonic twist
Trump’s advisors have developed
For the unwary readers.
True
No longer
Will federal agents
Deliberately separate families
As they're arrested
For illegal border crossing.
Trump
In his executive order
Has opened up
His version of Pandora's Box
With long term legal consequences.
What happens
When the 20 day limit expires
Of the Flores agreement?
Are the detained families
Once more
To be segregated
By U.S. federal law
Into separate detention centers?
While the battlefield switches
From the hearts and minds
Of the voting public
To the U.S. legal system
As the various courts
Hear each side’s arguments.
Will the conservative majority
On the U.S. Supreme Court
Side with the Trump administration
Extending the time limit beyond
The current 20 days
Of the Flores agreement?
Unlike the Nazis
And their paperwork efficiency
Where one can trace the journey
Of a Jewish detainee
With a single identifying number.
In the U.S. system
Each new agency or department
Assigns their own trace number
To the detainees.
Creating a logistical nightmare
For whoever is charged
With tracking down
And reuniting the families
Together.
A single misentered entry
Will multiple the damage
Already done to the families
By Trump’s zero tolerance policy.
Not to mention
What happens to
The 2300+ children
Already separated
From their parents?
Questions
The Trump administration has
No clear definitive answers
At this point of time.
As their administrative response
Has been reactionary
To the mounting migrant crisis.
Like someone has
Deliberately smudged
The fine print
On the executive order.
Therisa © 2018
