Why I Bring Them Over

I bring them over

Because it’s good money

Because it’s good money

And I need it—the money

I grew up along the border

I know the terrain

And so it’s a job

It’s one I’m fit for, you know?

You do the job you can do

If you can make money on it

All the better

But not doing it because—

Because other people don’t like it?

Fuck them

They don’t pay my bills

They don’t keep my lights on

They don’t…

I bring them over

Because I’m good at it

I get them across

In one piece

I’m better at it than a lot of people who do it

It’s not fun

And it’s not easy

Even if you’re with somebody like me

Who knows what they’re doing

But some people get you across alive

And some people get you across dead

I get them across alive—usually

I don’t ask why they’re coming over

That’s none of my business

Sometimes they mention it

Not to me

But to the people with them

And because I speak a little bit of the language

I pick up words, phrases

But I stop short of letting myself start to think about

Why they’re doing what they’re doing

I think of it like how a doctor does

The more removed you are

The better you do your job

Some of them look sick

So maybe they’re coming over for the medical care

But I doubt it

America’s not the only place

With good hospitals

In fact, a lot of places have better

Some of them look scared

So maybe they live somewhere

That has a lot of crime

And they feel like America’s safer for them

Even though it probably won’t be

Some of them just look like they need a fresh start

And damn if I don’t get what that’s about

Damn if I don’t get that look myself sometimes

I bring them over

Because I feel like I don’t have the right

To tell them they can’t be here

But I can just because I was born in the back of a car

By the border

When my mom couldn’t get to the hospital on time

She could see the border

From where the car stopped

And she told me she was so glad

Even out there on the road

That I was being born

On the right side of the line

But that’s just luck

And circumstance

That isn’t something I earned

A privilege or an entitlement

So who am I to say

Where people should live

And have their kids

And escape to

If they want to

Personally, I think it’s a little naïve to think

That there’s never going to come a time

When people aren’t going to want to leave America

And head somewhere better

And when that time comes

I hope somebody brings my grandkids

Wherever they want to go

And I hope that person gets them there safely

And gives them a fresh start

And I hope that person gets paid for it too

And paid well

Because if it’s anything like it is today

Well damn

I just hope it isn’t