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!"
Emma Lazarus wrote that
poem in 1883, for a campaign to raise money to build the pedestal for the
Statue of Liberty. The statue soon became the quintessential welcoming figure
for the many immigrant ships that passed beneath that outstretched hand and
torch on their way to Ellis Island and to the promise of America.
Since those days more than
a century ago, our country has repeatedly changed its policies on immigration.
Sometimes we welcome immigrants. At other times we impose strict restrictions
on immigration.
The Senate has now passed a
comprehensive bill revising United States laws regarding immigration. In order
for the law to change, though, the House of Representatives also must act.
