We’ve all read the words, heard them recited, likely studied them in school.
They were penned by Emma Lazarus in 1883, her tome inspired by the Statue of Liberty, which wasn’t even dedicated until three years later.
Though not an immigrant herself — she was born in New York City in 1849 — Lazarus was involved in helping Jews who had fled persecution in Europe, and thus had empathy for those who came to America seeking a better life.
The most famous lines of her poem, “The New Colossus,” are, oh, so familiar: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
Beautiful words, inspiring words, but words that all too often in American history have rung hollow.
Coming to this country, seeking prosperity, fleeing tyranny, looking for a new start, never has been easy.
Many black people came to this country, not of their own accord but in shackles. Chinese immigrants were sought to work in the California gold mines but were later barred by the Chinese Exclusion Act. Irish came fleeing the potato famine, then were discriminated against. Italians flocked to this promising new land but were likewise subject to discrimination and stereotyping.
Japanese immigrants came seeking peace and prosperity. During World War II those of Japanese heritage, even those born in this country, were herded into internment camps simply because of their background.
Now those being targeted are from Latin America. And the beat goes on.
I am a third-generation American, at least on my father’s side. His grandparents were born in Germany in the 19th Century, then emigrated to America. They settled in Wisconsin, where my grandmother was born.
I don’t know the circumstances of their coming to this country, or even whether or not they ever became naturalized citizens. If they were not naturalized, and if the president does away with birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants, that would have made my grandmother illegal, and my father and … I am not going to answer the door for awhile.
I assume my family came, like so many millions of others over the centuries, because America was, and still is, seen as the land of opportunity.
All of my family on both sides came to this country from somewhere else, of course. Most people’s families are built on the foundation of immigration, unless your kin were here when all those pesky folks from Europe began to arrive.
I heard a story recently of a demonstration over illegal immigration in Arizona that took place on the steps of the state capitol building. As a state senator with brown skin walked down the steps, the demonstrators spotted him and yelled, “Go back where you came from.” The senator is Navajo.
We don’t want open borders, we don’t want criminals from other lands or those who would do our country harm. But neither do we want to completely seal ourselves off from the rest of the world.
Immigrants built this country. They are still building it. How many white faces do you see when you spot a crew installing a new roof on your neighbor’s house?
Rounding up criminals who entered this country illegally and sending them back to their countries of origin sounds like a good idea in principle, but in practice it is having unintended consequences. Undocumented immigrants who have committed no crimes are being swept up in raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and sent home to face an uncertain fate.
Of course, undocumented immigrants are by definition criminals, just because they came here in violation of our laws.
Even undocumented immigrants, however, contribute mightily to America’s economy. The Council on Foreign Relations reports that in 2022, the last year for which data is available, undocumented immigrants’ spending power totaled more than $254 billion. The households of undocumented immigrants had a combined income of $330 billion, and those households paid nearly $76 billion in taxes.
Becoming an American citizen is not easy. The naturalization process typically takes between 18 and 24 months, and simply submitting an application costs more than $700.
For those of us born in this country, can we even begin to appreciate the sacrifices and strife required to leave your home, to settle in another nation and to go through the long, demanding process of becoming a citizen? No. We take our citizenship for granted.
We need immigration reform. We need better enforcement at our borders. But we also need renewed compassion for those who see America as their last, best chance at happiness and who these days are living in fear of a knock at their door.