To the editor:

First they came for federal workers

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a federal worker

Then they came for the immigrants

And I did not speak out

Because I was not an immigrant

Then they came for the scientists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a scientist

Then they came for the judges

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a judge

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me

This poem was inspired by Martin Niemöller’s poem “First They Came” which was written after World War II. The modern political climate of our nation has caused me to write this, illustrating how history is repeating itself, and we need to act soon. 

The current administration of our country has been illegally mass-firing workers, detaining and deporting immigrants, denying the entry of European scientists and has arrested a judge. This administration has ignored multiple rulings by the Supreme Court to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and within a few weeks, they managed to turn the port of Seattle into a ghost town. 

These people are not leaders. They are liars and criminals who care more about the power they have than the country they are destroying.

Bryce Gutraj

Affton