Names we must never forget:

This is a short off-the-cuff piece reflecting on the Ng INS murder:

This is a crime drama. Like CSI: Miami or those dozens of other piece of shit shows we watch on TV. It’s the story of a hardened criminal who never saw trial, but was probably guilty of his crime, wanting to love and raise his two sons. Wanting to live with his wife. The system, our system does not suffer criminals or family values gladly.

Names We Must Never Forget

Emmett Till. Anne Frank. Wong Shee.
Born in the wrong place. Born the wrong color.

Hui Liu Ng age 17, bright-eyed the New York Skyline.
Jason Ng. Studied. Graduated. Worked. Married. Loved. Fathered.

We must remember our promises:
We welcome those who come and follow our laws,
Respect the legal process.
Our mistake. Your court summon was sent to the wrong address.

We must remember this date:
July 19, 2007
Five years of agonizing waiting from their wedding day
Finally honored by the green card interview.
Dragged from the room.
When will I see my kids again?

We must remember these concentrations:
Wyatt; The House of Corrections, Greenfield, Mass.; St. Albans’ Franklin County Jail

St. Albans, I cannot sleep.
Unrelenting pain in my back
My skin itching and burning
Where is the doctor, the nurse?

Wyatt, I am alone
Choking on solitary darkness and pain
The only diversion is head count—greater pain
Brother, send help.

“I was really heartbroken when I first saw him”
“After two weeks of suffering with unbearable back pain
And unable to get any sleep, he was so weak and looked terrible”
From 6”, 200 to a shrunken jaundiced octogenarian.

“PAIN”
The overseers won’t believe me.
“They tell me, ‘Stop faking’”
If only I could.

Other inmates—the last vestige of humanity.
Help me to the toilet.
Bring me food.
Call home for me.
Can’t see my lawyer.
Can’t walk to get painkillers—too much pain.
They won’t give me a wheelchair.
“Stop faking”

Warden tells my lawyer:
We would like to resolve this case in the best manner:
Deportation
Or
If we lose, released to the streets.
No doctor. No wheelchair. Sign the papers.
Does warden not have a family?

I tried. Worked. Dreamed.
Gave every drop to be the best American father, husband, worker, citizen.
“Can no longer withstand the suffering within this facility”
“No release as long as he has appeals remaining”

July 30
Can’t move.
Crushing my wrists and ankles in shackles
Dragged from bed.
Two-hours of hellish pain to Hartford
INS bullies me “Drop all your appeals or else!”
Or else what?
“For this desperately sick man this was torture.”

Left with my pain until a federal judge orders medical treatment.
Cancer in the liver,
Lungs,
Bones,
Fractured my spine.
Calling my sister from the hospital:
“I don’t have much time to live”

No family visits allowed for three days.
Final passage, but only with Social Security Numbers in hand.
My sons
Three-years old
One-year old
My sister
My wife
My guard
Watching my unscrupulous action of dying on a gurney.

“Brother, do not worry, don’t be afraid,”
No more pain, no more torture
“They are not going to send you back to that facility again.
Brother, you are free now”

August 6, 2008
Hui Liu Ng.
Jason Ng.
Brother, tell me.
Why is this the only freedom they offer us?

They killed him. They killed him. We killed him.
Francisco Castaneda, Boubacar Bah, Wong Shee. Jason Ng. 300,000 more in ISN concentration camps. How long will we kill all of them?