On August 2, 2017, President Trump announced his support for a Senate proposal that would, pursuant to legislation, drastically change the legal structure of United States immigration policy to be a skill-based system–and with an emphasis on fluent English speakers–away from a family-oriented policy with a priority on bringing families together. But the real intent of this proposed law would be to reduce immigration by 50 percent over the next 10 years–from around one million a year to 500,000 intended green card holders per year.
This would be of course a drastic reduction in the number of permitted legal immigrants–not at all what our country’s Founders had in mind for the Republic.
“The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent & respectable Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions; whom we shall wellcome to a participation of our rights & privileges, if by decency & propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.” George Washington, 1783
This is a skilled-based policy?
“There is one principle which pervades all the institutions of this country, and which must always operate as an obstacle to the granting of favors to new comers. This is a land, not of privileges, but of equal rights. John Quincy Adams, the then Secretary of State, 1819
The Statue of Liberty dominates the entrance to New York Harbor and is a welcoming beacon to those who wish to be free everywhere. It represents in statue form the symbol, the manifestation of George Washington’s vision that America is open to receive not only the respectable people but the “oppressed & persecuted of all Nations and Religions.” In 1883 in connection with an effort to raise money to fund the statue Emma Lazarus submitted a poem entitled “The New Colossus” to the authorities managing the money raising exhibit. (The term “Colossus” refers to the Colossus of classical antiquity, a giant statue of a warrior straddling the entrance to the harbor on the Greek island of Rhodes. This is the “New Colossus,” Liberty, instead of a warrior.) It was the first entry read at the opening of the exhibit.
The Lady Liberty statue was opened to the public in 1886. Subsequently in 1903 this poem was put on a bronze plaque and attached to the statue’s base. Currently it has a prominent place in the museum within the statue’s base. Some have sought, for their own political reasons, to denigrate its significance. because it was not part of the statue’s formal opening in 1986. But of what importance is that? It was written prior to the opening to help raise money to construct the statue as well as to describe Lady Liberty. It was included in the statue base some 17 years later, 114 years ago. But most importantly it completely captures our first president’s vision and the meaning of the statue. Lady Liberty was a gift from France as a symbol of liberty and welcome home for immigrants who enter the United States especially by sea. The second of two verses of this poem reads as follows describing a call from Lady Liberty herself:
“‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she
With silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!'”
Perhaps President Trump should read this poem. Then maybe he could devise an immigration policy consistent with American principles.
John Jay