First (((They))) Came

First they came for the farmers and farm workers, and I did not speak out,
because the Bracero Program and endless waves of illegals promised cheaper food,
and I was not a man of the soil.

Then they came for the manufacturers, and I did not speak out,
because NAFTA and permanent trade relations with China sent the factories overseas,
and I was not on the assembly line.

Then they came for the construction workers, and I did not speak out,
because crews of illegal laborers built houses for cash, undercutting honest tradesmen,
and I was only a buyer wanting cheap housing.

Then they came for the convenience stores and gas stations, and I did not speak out,
because migrant Indian families bought the franchises and hired only their own,
and I was just passing through.

Then they came for the Walmarts and retail chains, and I did not speak out,
because the supply chain moved to China while immigrants stocked the shelves,
and I was just a consumer.

Then they came for the lawyers and judges, and I did not speak out,
because "diversity" in the legal system meant favoring non-Whites,
and I was a law-abiding citizen.

Then they came for the tech companies, and I did not speak out,
because they claimed a "STEM shortage" and flooded the market with H-1Bs to lower wages,
and I was still employed.

Then they came for me.
My career was deemed unnecessary, my people replaced, my nation no longer mine.
And there was no one left:
no farmer,
no builder,
no healer,
no thinker
who remembered what it meant to be free.

There was no one left to speak for me.