There are a lot of distressing realities in America right now. The identities of child abusers mentioned in the Epstein files remain hidden. Volatile storms and adverse weather patterns are now commonplace all over the planet. And the wealthiest 1% of the population keeps hoarding vast amounts of wealth for themselves without paying taxes.
What troubles me most is the fact that thousands of immigrants, refugees, and U.S. citizens are being imprisoned indefinitely in detention centers all over the country. They have been kidnapped without due process and with no clear path toward being released. (Some of them have been sent off to prisons in foreign countries.)
According to Laura Strickler and Julia Ainsley of NBC News,
“The United States is currently holding more than 70,000 immigrants in 224 facilities across the nation, 104 more facilities than it had before Trump took office. Those detainees include children.”
With the infusion of billions of dollars from the president’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” thousands more ICE agents are being hired and more industrial warehouses will be transformed into what will be crowded detention centers with inhumane living conditions.
I imagine that the people kept locked up in these detention centers find comfort and hope in the possibility that someone out in the world, whether that person is a relative, friend, spouse, or activist, is advocating for their release. It probably feels like a thin shred of hope, but what else is there to feel?
When I played this week’s cover song (#5), I thought about all those detainees (prisoners) and their loved ones on the outside who are clamoring for their release. “Right Here Waiting” is a song about one’s unfailing devotion toward a loved one who is far away. (Click the “play” button on the video at the top of this issue to listen.)
In our current coldhearted reality, waiting faithfully and vigilantly is an act of love.
Meanwhile, families and communities are speaking up and fighting back.
Until they can be reunited, the bond between detainees and their loved ones on the outside remains unbreakable.
This week’s cover song is dedicated to all the prisoners in these detention centers.
We all wait together for their return.
P.S. For more information on what is going on with ICE’s detention strategies and what you can do about it where you live, please read this:
