Ping published “Things We Carry on the Sea” in 2018, during Donald Trump’s first term as President of the United States. Immigration reform was a key part of Trump’s platform. Once elected, Trump enforced a number of bills and policies to limit or restrict immigration into the United States. These policies included capping the number of refugees allowed into the country from 84,995 down to 18,000, regardless of their reason for immigrating. Trump’s rhetoric surrounding these decisions played on concerns about drugs and violence, and it focused on what negative things the immigrants brought into the United States.

“Things We Carry” unravels that rhetoric by demonstrating the kinds of sacrifices required by immigrant families (See: Poem Analysis). Many of the “mother tongues” (Line 15) featured in the poem come from areas particularly targeted by Trump’s administration, including Asia, the Arab States, and South America. Ping’s selection of languages works to highlight the areas and language groups most threatened by immigration reform. Her speaker’s focus on the immigrants’ “diplomas” (Line 9) and education, meanwhile, argues against the government’s xenophobic rhetoric. The poem’s detailed articulation of reasons why people might immigrate, such as “proxy wars” (Line 4) and “industrial wastes” (Line 14), help to stress the importance of more relaxed policies.