"Give me your tired, your poor..."

"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!"

     Those words can be found on a plaque at the Statue of Liberty, but they were not on the Statue originally.  The poem was placed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty until 1930, almost 20 years after she was dedicated in New York Harbor.

   The Statue was a gift from the people and government of France in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the United States.  The size of the statue brought to mine the mythical Colossus of Rhodes, and other statues of the Ancient World.  On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland unveiled the Statue of Liberty to the world.  

   With its proximity to New York City and Ellis Island, the meaning of the Statue changed for millions of people.  The Statue became a symbol for America, a symbol for a new life and new opportunities.   In some ways it became a symbol for freedom itself.  

   As stated in Emma Lazarus's poem, those that came to this country tended be the people who were "homeless" or the "wretched".  So while the poem implies that are all welcome to the United States, we know that this is not always the realty.  For many people, coming to the U.S. to seek a new life meant being faced with opposition and prejudice from the very people who were descendants of immigrants. 

   As a case study to these anti-immigrant feelings, we will be taking a brief look at what happened when the U.S. faced a large influx of immigrants from a particular ethnic group for the first time...the Irish.    We will be discussing why the Irish left Ireland, and what type of welcome they were given by the American people.    Looking at what the Irish faced, we can see some of the arguments that people have used and still use, in saying why immigration is wrong.