This Powerful Poetry Collection Captures the Emotional Toll of ICE Raids on Our Communities in SoCal

Art is one of the most powerful tools in the face of hardship and oppression. A. Lopez, a poet, wrote a series of poems stemming from the widespread and indiscriminate arrests of Latino people. “Nos Están Desapareciendo” is more than a book of poems. It tells the story of resilience, fear, heartbreak, and uncertainty as ICE raids tore through our communities in poetry. In the middle of family separation and shared community trauma, the author set to work to capture the emotions in real time.

A collection of poems captures the emotions in the middle of Southern California ICE raids

Poet A. Lopez wrote “Nos Están Desapareciendo” in response to the collective trauma immigrant communities experienced in Southern California this summer. She used her art to document the pain and reality of the moment in the face of ICE raids terrorizing communities with poetry. She leaned into the emotions surrounding her and her loved ones and started to write.

“I felt it was urgent to document our voices in real time—our real pain—rather than leaving it to someone outside our culture to tell the story for us,” Lopez told mitú. Living in a sanctuary city where these raids were happening, I knew how easily our experiences could be erased or redefined by people who don’t understand what our community was going through. I wanted to ensure our voices and our suffering were preserved as we lived them, not rewritten or silenced by others.”

The poems, which include one titled “The American Dream,” pay homage to the resilience and heartbreak of the immigrant community. It paints a picture of a vibrant community that is so intricately interwoven into the fabric of the nation, yet removed from it at the same time.

An excerpt from “The American Dream” by A. Lopez reads, “Because this is not a warning. / This is happening. / This is not a dream. / This is not a movie. / This is not history. / This is now. / You are being abducted /  in broad daylight- / /not for stealing, / not for harming, not for anything / but being brown,/ and visible, / and trying to make it home.”

It ends with the line, “Because they’ve been taught that your life is just background noise to the American Dream.”

The book aims to uplift those dealing with trauma from the raids

Lopez is donating 40 percent of the proceeds from “Nos Están Desaparaciendo” to help those who need trauma counseling.

“I chose to donate 40 percent of the proceeds to trauma counseling because I work in the mental health field, and I see firsthand the devastating, generational impact these raids will have,” Lopez explained to mitú. “We don’t talk enough about the mental health crisis in our community. Families deserve safe spaces to process what’s happening to them, and children need the words to name what they’re experiencing. Counseling can give them that voice, that validation, and the chance to heal.”

Lopez turned to writing the poetry book as her only outlet during the time of the ICE raids. The arrests and detentions kept her awake at night, as she replayed them over and over in her mind. As someone from an immigrant community and family, she felt deeply affected by the raids happening around her. Writing the emotions into a book helped her heal.

Researchers have well documented the trauma from immigration raids

Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health studied the lingering impacts of ICE raids. The researchers studied the impact on a community after ICE raided a mixed-use building in a small midwestern town where several families were living in 2013.

“Violent immigration enforcement tactics leave an enduring impact on the minds, bodies, and behaviors of people targeted for deportation,” Nicole Novak, co-author of the paper, said in a statement in 2018. “However, the damaging effects of immigration enforcement extend far beyond those who are specifically targeted, reverberating through families and communities.”

Immigrant families rarely discuss or have access to counseling or therapy after tragic events. This disproportionately leaves these families grappling with trauma without professional help.

You can purchase a copy of “Nos Están Desapareciendo” here.