"The United States Welcomes You"
by Tracy K. Smith
I’ve mentioned in earlier blogs that I really enjoy the fact that Smith writes a lot about socio economic issues and modern politics in a lot of her work. This poem, “The United States Welcomes You”, seems to outline the difficulty and interrogative feeling for newly immigrated immigrants to the US. The title explicitly says a welcome, but the poem is harsh and feels very uncomfortable when read from the perspective of a new immigrant.
The entire poem is laced with questions like “Why and by whose power were you sent?” and “What do you see that you may wish to steal?”, common misconceptions many are forced to experience when first arriving in the US. It seems that the worst is always assumed of those who immigrate here. They’re asked if they have “anything to do [w]ith others [who bring] harm” here, and the tone is very accusatory, as if the only plausible answer for someone moving here is to commit a crime or wreak havoc.
The ending of the poem seems to be a glimpse at the thoughts of the immigrants themselves, posing the questions “Is this some enigmatic type of test? What if we Fail? How and to whom do we address our appeal?”, in that they feel so heavily interrogated and are afraid to answer “incorrectly” when in actuality they come seeking a newer, better life than the country they had left behind.
This poem is so heartbreakingly relevant, and unfortunately it seems that its relevance will be prominent in our society for a long while. I really love the more humanitarian, introspective poems, as it can often be difficult to understand the injustices felt by many minorities, especially with the US being such a major international power known for having harsh immigration rulings.
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