Brian Quijada

ICE v. GOOD

I laid flowers down at the Walmart
in El Paso where they shot up all those folks
I set them down by their pictures
felt all the memories that they invoked
they looked like my cousins, like my uncles, like my brothers like my parents
and that’s why I couldn’t help but cry
I imagined myself as their nephew, as their brother, or their son having to have that someone die
there were these pictures of our elders
and the 15 year old boy from the report
there were the pictures of the lives cut short
must have been better to kill than to deport
they died for a reason we all know deep down
they died for being brown.

In Minneapolis last month they killed a woman
shot her three times right on film
she was afraid and she obstructed
the quota that they needed to fill
she was a mother she was a poet she loved her kids she loved her town and she was exactly my age
we were both kids of 88, and while she’s being buried and I’m singing up on this stage.
she died for a reason we all know as fact
she died for fighting back

so what do we do, when we have so much to lose, watching our country dying in the news?
our rage can’t go gently into that good night, those videos have far too many views
they say, “come in the right way, don’t break the law.”
but, the law is flawed
cuz if you’re in some files, have 34 counts, interfere in elections, have few charges mount, and brag to crimes that we all heard and saw
then what the flying fuck is following the law?
they died for a reason we all damn well see
they died for hypocrisy

we have a statue, it’s green and bright
we proudly take her picture from a boat
and at the same time, we have masked men
proudly standing by the blood stained snow
oh, what a day, I’ll imagine when those crimes are brought to court
and if it happens, I’ll be surprised, and until then hit the streets and we’ll march forth
cuz the lawsuit we might not get but we should is
ICE v Good

Performed on guitar and voice at 54 Below in New York City on January 13, 2026