Closing the Golden Door

Closing the Golden Door

America has, is, and will always be a nation of immigrants: the great melting pot. In the

years that have passed since Emma Lazarus’ poem was inscribed on the Statue of Liberty “the

golden door” has seen times when it was open wide and times when it was closed shut to almost

all immigrants. Many people tend to look at the present immigration problems as a purely modern

dilemma. The truth is America has always struggled with the issue of immigration, both legal and

illegal. Changing times however make it imperative that our government re-examine and adjust

today’s immigration laws to today’s standards. Those standards however are not easily defined.

All too often the issue of immigration is used as a political tool or is lost in heated moral debates.

In any discussion about immigration you will have those who claim it is good for our nation and

those who claim it is ruining the nation. More often than not the bottom line in any debate of this

sort is money; will more or less immigration mean more or less money for those already in

America. The moral debates come down to a question of who we are as a nation and how we

want the rest of the world to perceive Americans. If this great country was forged and built by

immigrants passing through “the golden door” , then how can this same country turn away new

immigrants. The inscription on the Statue of Liberty invites all to enter, yet not all are allowed to

enter. Immigration has become a selective process with many gray areas. Now Americans are

faced with a new dilemma; the nation must decide not whether it is willing to accept new

immigrants, but whether it can afford new immigrants.

All new immigrant, both legal and illegal must be c...

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