Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. On May 14, 1938, Lotte Dreyfuss, 17, standing on a ship’s deck, saw the Statue of Liberty welcoming her to America. A Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, her next 83 years were a blessing to this country — and to me, her son.
America as uniquely a haven for people from all over, seeking better lives and “to breathe free,” was always central to our national character and story. Key to our greatness, and our own flourishing. Until now.
“Open borders” rhetoric has been ridiculous nonsense. But in fact, for most of our history, our borders were fully open. That was true (except for Chinese, excluded in 1882) when the Statue of Liberty was erected — and when the thrilling Emma Lazarus poem was added, making that lady the noble symbol of welcome that so defined America. Until now.
Later, we did impose restrictions. Lotte Dreyfuss was actually fortunate to get in; the next year, America turned away a ship, the St. Louis, filled with European Jews, sending many back to their deaths. But in subsequent decades we formalized a generous system for welcoming refugees and asylum seekers, with annual numbers allowed as high as 250,000.
Trump’s first term slashed that cap to just 15,000 (with actual entries still lower). President Biden restored it, halfway at least, to 125,000. Now it is effectively zero. Even conventional legal immigration is being eviscerated. Our borders resoundingly slammed shut.
And draconian expulsions have begun. With no due process niceties. Many of those targeted have small children who are U.S. citizens. Trump waves off that detail, saying they can take their kids with them. Let them eat cake. (He’s also attempted to void the automatic citizenship of children born here — an order a court has already slapped down as “blatantly unconstitutional.”)
The callous cruelty, the needless destruction of good people’s lives, is a shocking crime against humanity. And economic insanity, tossing away their contributions to our national prosperity.
The deportations victimize not only unauthorized immigrants. Also to be kicked out are over a million here lawfully, pursuant to government programs granting people from certain specified countries a right to remain. Including Haitians, whose lives were already made hell by despicable Trump and Vance pet-eating lies.
All those people Trump also aims to cast out, despite their legal status, which he refuses to honor. The chief unlawful person here is him.
And where are Democrats? They should be shouting from the rooftops about all this, and the whole panoply of Trump travesties. Politics aside, because doing so would be right. But the sheer rapidity and extremism of Trump’s actions, the dizzying shock and awe, seem to have numbed them into impotence. Largely co-opted even, into our grand national orgy of strongman worship. All sappy smiles at the inauguration, with Biden even burbling “Welcome home!” to Trump.
Americans foolishly idolized strength in voting for that criminal. Strength in badness. Let Democrats show some strength in opposing it all.
One at least, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, did shun the festivities saying, “I don’t celebrate rapists.”
The words on the Statue of Liberty — “I lift my lamp beside the golden door” — always brought shining tears to my eyes. Until now. Now they’re tears of a different kind.