When I was about 9 years old and attending Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Westfield, New Jersey, we had a great music program. My music teacher’s name was Mrs. Northover. She taught us to play the recorder (which I still play more than 40 years later), and taught us a number of wonderful songs, many of which we sang during school events, and for our parents.
One of the many songs that I have distinctly remembered over the years is Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor. I remember it for many reasons, one of them being the lesson that we were taught about the song’s origin. It is the poem that is engraved at the feet of the Statue of Liberty.
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-tost to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Above this, the plaque also says:
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
The Republicans have either forgotten or ignored this. And yes, I call them out on this, for they have created this Administration. They voted for it, and they have supported this very specific campaign promise. For all of their talk of Patriotism, they have ignored the universal symbol of freedom and democracy that is our own Status of Liberty, and has been since its dedication on October 28, 1886. Anyone who has ever visited Ellis Island and taken the tour (Walking in Immigrant Footsteps), searched for the name of an ancestor in the great archives has felt the awe the National Monument inspires.
Over the weekend, after President Trump’s Executive Order went into effect, travelers with valid visas and legal permanent residents (green card holders) from the seven targeted countries specified in the Executive Order were either prevented from boarding planes bound for the United States, where they live, or were detained indefinitely and threatened with deportation by Border Control after they landed in the United States. The order was penned and signed with no legal guidance of the Office of Legal Counsel. It is a clear vote of “no confidence” for the vetting already in place for those who already have visas and green cards.
These are people who have lives here. Many of them have had lives here for several years. They have jobs, homes, families, pets, friends, loved ones. And with the sweep of a pen, suddenly they have nothing. They cannot return to their jobs, their homes, their pets, families, loved ones, or even the belongings that they have acquired over the years. Things that are theirs. This is an abomination, a massive violation of human rights, as well as violation of our own U.S. laws against discrimination (1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, banning discrimination against immigrants on basis of national origin, for one).
The beautiful: In airports all over the United States where people were detained, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and large crowds of people gathered in protest. Lawyers showed up, volunteering their services (the Border Control refused to allow them access to the detained). A federal judge in New York (U.S. Judge Ann M. Donnelly) blocked part of the executive order, citing that removing travelers who arrived in the airports “violates their rights to Due Process and Equal Protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution.” Some Democratic Senators (Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris) joined protesters at the airport. Democrats have promised to introduce legislation to stop the order. At 6:00 p.m. today, Democratic lawmakers will meet on the steps of the Supreme Court to show solidarity with legal attempts to block the travel ban.
Homeland Security has largely ignored the injunctions set in place by Federal Judges. This is an important sign, and something that we should be paying close attention to — the Executive Branch is ignoring our Judicial Branch of government. The Judicial Branch was put in place to stop the Executive Branch from overreaching. If the Executive Branch is going to ignore the Judicial Branch, then it becomes nothing short of an attempted government coup. This cannot be tolerated.
Who has spoken out?
Although a few have remained silent, the majority of Democrats have spoken out against the ban.
Some Republicans have opposed the order. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Ben Sasse. Several others have simply called for the President to “retool,” or revise the order.
Make no mistake. This is a Muslim ban. These people are being withheld because they are assumed to be Muslim. This is what Trump promised. This is what his supporters wanted. This is what the Republican party has created.
I call for all Republicans to denounce this Executive Order and call for its repeal.
