Cage-Free By Norma Beatriz Sánchez

While shopping at the supermarket

I noticed that products labeled cage-free

are in great demand / but children separated

from their parents / and then put in cages

are not causes of worry for the public.

In a recent court hearing involving

migrant children in custody / the U.S. government

stated that a safe and sanitary environment

does not necessarily have to include soap and toothbrushes

that it is acceptable to place children on concrete floors

with an aluminum sheet as a blanket

that sleep is not considered a basic human right

and therefore there is nothing wrong with depriving them

from sleeping by having the lights on during day and night

that it is fine to let children care for other children

as well as feeding them Kool-Aid and cookies

that the current administration is not responsible

for the sexual abuse toward minors

happening in the detention centers

that the accusations were determined

to be unfounded or lacking enough evidence to prosecute

that children are dying because they are carrying diseases

from their country of origin and not due to lack of care

that after all / those children and their parents are criminals

children whose highlight of the week is to stand

at the hallway while their cells are being cleaned.

Cage-free goods are the right choice

for our body and the preservation of the environment

it is inhumane to allow animals to be kept in cages;

cage-free children should not be an option but a standard.

If their freedom and dignity is taken away

And we allow it/we are as guilty as their jailers.

Let us be the voice of their hopes and despair!