Inscribed in the Statue of Liberty is this phrase from the poem “New Colossus.”
Give me your tired, your poor,
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost, to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
This makes it seem as though we want people to come to the United States. It makes it sound as if we don’t just want rich people, instead it makes it seem as though the people that we are telling to come here are the lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor. We are asking for the wretched refuse of other countries to come here. In the early 1800’s America was a nation of hope for many. It was a place that said it will provide opportunity for those who had no opportunity in their home country. Those homeless in other countries could find a home here.
Fast forward almost 200 years and we see an America that is building walls on its boarders and patrolling them with guns so that the tired, poor, wretched masses that are yearning to breathe free cannot enter this country. It sounds like quite a contradiction to have a wall on one border and a bold statement like the Statue of Liberty in a harbor on the other side of the country.
Perhaps we should look to our history to figure out what we should do about immigration. Maybe we need to remember that as a nation we once said that we would welcome all comers and especially welcome the tired and the poor and the wretched.
This makes it seem as though we want people to come to the United States. It makes it sound as if we don’t just want rich people, instead it makes it seem as though the people that we are telling to come here are the lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor. We are asking for the wretched refuse of other countries to come here. In the early 1800’s America was a nation of hope for many. It was a place that said it will provide opportunity for those who had no opportunity in their home country. Those homeless in other countries could find a home here.
Fast forward almost 200 years and we see an America that is building walls on its boarders and patrolling them with guns so that the tired, poor, wretched masses that are yearning to breathe free cannot enter this country. It sounds like quite a contradiction to have a wall on one border and a bold statement like the Statue of Liberty in a harbor on the other side of the country.
Perhaps we should look to our history to figure out what we should do about immigration. Maybe we need to remember that as a nation we once said that we would welcome all comers and especially welcome the tired and the poor and the wretched.
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