What does the inscription at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty say?

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

We as a country face not a question of political leanings, but of morality.

Yes, immigrants and refugees are some of the most productive members of our society. They are our professors, our doctors, our custodians and our taxi drivers. But why do they need to prove their worth in order to gain sympathy from so many Americans?

Where did we go wrong when we can witness someone’s suffering, know in full detail the extent of their pain and still easily choose to desert them when they need our aid?

Have we become so desensitized to such horrors that we merely blink when the real thing is knocking on our doorstep?

Even if they haven’t survived a war or a traumatic event—at what point does someone deserve to be here? Our random births on this soil do not entitle us to survive unharmed while the rest of the world burns.

The last time we blocked refugees they were German Jews trying to escape the Holocaust in 1939. They were sent back to their country, and many were killed by Adolph Hitler and his followers.

Supporters of the ban, about 31 percent of Americans according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, agree that it is for our own protection. They propagate an idea that refugees or immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries will commit acts of terror. They ignore the fact that President Donald Trump banned travel from the seven countries where he has nobusiness ties, and seven countries that have never been the homeland of an immigrant who committed terrorist acts on American soil. He compares the order to President Obama’s call for increased restrictions on travelers from certain nations, disregarding that more security does not mean a total shutout.

We are not in danger–our Muslim brothers and sisters are. And so is our legacy.

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