Fabianna Rincon ’21
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore”
These words have beckoned immigrants arriving at our great nation for generations, offering a message of hope to those looking to achieve the American Dream. But in the age of immigrant villainization, can these words truly bear the same effect?
We’re told immigrants steal our jobs, our profits, our livelihoods. We’re told they come only to harbor danger and fear. What happened to our great American mixing pot, a culmination of diverse hopes and dreams from every corner of the world. The vast majority of Americans are descended from immigrants. Our founding fathers were the first. How could a country built on immigration turn so easily against it?
17 years ago, my parents fled Venezuela in the hopes of finding a better life in the United States. Like millions of others, they came for the American Dream. They’ve worked endlessly to ensure a better life for their children, a life that simply couldn’t be reached in Venezuela. They were the tired, huddled masses that yearned to breathe free.
While our attitude towards the immigrant has worsened, I hold hope that we can return to the sympathy we once had – the sympathy that has beckoned millions towards our nation. The villainization of the immigrant may just be the most un-American value there is. We were all once the tired, poor, wretched refuses of our teeming shore. And I know that we, as Americans, have it in our hearts to view these immigrants with empathy.
the len(z) 