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!

This is what the quote at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty reads. Written by Emma Lazarus, the sonnet “The New Colussus” is about the truth and meaning behind the Statue of Liberty, the “Mother of Exiles.” 

While I try very hard not to get political, I am reminded of everything that has happened this weekend and realize I cannot sit by silently. We are a country made of refugees. We stood for freedom from religious persecution even before we became ‘America.’ Our Democracy inspired revolutions around the world. We were a beacon of hope. A beacon that was snuffed out for many nationalities today.