The New Colossus

(Above: Emma Lazarus' original manuscript.)

On the wall of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty is a plaque containing a poem by Emma Lazarus called "The New Colossus," comparing Lady Liberty to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Colossus of Rhodes:

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!"

But as we prepare to celebrate Columbus Day on Monday, can anyone deny that we have made a mockery of these noble words?

Nativism is nothing new. It goes back to the very start of our country, when Ben Franklin warned that the first wave of immigrants, the Germans, would change our language from English to German. Instead, they gave us hot dogs, hamburgers and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Throughout our history, people have always had the same complaints about immigrants: They'll eat up our resources, increase the crime rates and change our culture.

Instead, the opposite has happened. Immigrants work harder than everyone else – from the Irish and Chinese who built the Transcontinental Railroad to the Mexicans who currently labor in the fields to bring food to our tables – for one simple reason: Unlike the rest of us, who have grown soft and lazy over the generations, they still believe in the American dream and are willing to work hard to achieve it.

Statistics show they commit fewer crimes and volunteer to fight for our country in greater numbers than the rest of us, from the Irish in the Civil War to the Italians in World War II.

Yes, they do change our culture – but always for the better. If you don't believe that, no more pizza, bagels or mu shu pork for you.

And now, here we go again. Our politicians are falling over each other to prove who can be cruelest to Latin Americans immigrants, especially Mexicans.

Last year, we were treated to the spectacle of mobs of obscenity-screaming "patriots," their lips dripping with spittle and vituperation, surrounding busses of Guatemalan toddlers whose only crime was trying to escape the violence in their home country.

This year, the candidates are taking their cue from Donald Trump. The Donald says he'd still let a few immigrants in; namely, the rich ones and those with Ph.Ds. But that totally misses Emma Lazarus' point: What made America great wasn't aristocratic newcomers; it was ordinary people whose potential for greatness was untapped back in the old country.

And now Trump is upping the ante by promising to deport all the Syrian refugees we're taking in, too. But he ignores the basic truth that today's immigrants are like our own ancestors – just with different faces, that's all. They have always given back to this country far more than they got, and they always will.