First, they came for the legal refugees waiting for their asylum hearings

but I did not speak out

because I am not a refugee.

Then they destroyed the agencies that support the legal refugees

but I did not speak out

because I do not work for such an agency.

Then they went after women – Equity stands for hiring qualified women

but I did not speak out

because I am not a woman.

Then they went after transgender people

but I did not speak out

because I am not transgender.

Then they went after people with disabilities – The I in DEI is hiring qualified people with disabilities

but I did not speak out

because I am not disabled.

© by Daniel DeMarle 2/1/25

Adapted from First They Came” (German: Als Sie Kamen lit. ‘When They Came‘, or Habe Ich Geschwiegen lit. ‘I Did Not Speak Out‘), is the poetic form of a 1946 post-war confessional prose by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984). It is about the silent complicity of German intellectuals and clergy following the Nazis’ rise to power and subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets.