The Statue of Liberty is one of the best-known landmarks in the “Big Apple”. Since it was gifted to America by the French in the 1886, it has been a world-renowned symbol of freedom and democracy, greeting millions of people at the entrance to the New York harbour. The statue has special meaning to all who have come from around the world to start a new life in America. A plaque inside displays a poem by Emma Lazarus, it reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
You 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!
As America closes its “golden door” to refugees and is at risk of electing a president who wishes to build walls rather than welcoming “the homeless” and “tempest-tossed”, I wonder what will become of the America that has become great because and not despite of its immigrants.