Much has been said in recent weeks about illegal aliens, the immigration reforms being considered by congress and immigration laws proposed by several states. Lost in the rhetoric however, is the very magic that made the United States great.
We ALL came here or are descendants of those who came from somewhere else. Many were seeking something better than they could find in their homeland; others were brought here in chains or were imported as the cheap labor of the day. Many stayed and became ingredients in the ethnic melting pot from which Americans are formed.
Consider the following poem, "The New Collsous" by Emma Lazarus:
"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "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!"
Do you recognize it? It is inscribed inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and (at least when I was a child) was memorized by every 5th grader.
Today, we pay lip service to the call for immigrants stated there. They didn't come here to weaken or bankrupt our nation but to become participants in it's success. Today's immigrants will do the same if we allow them the opportunity to do so instead of clamoring for their expulsion.
Enough said.
