“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”– Emma Lazarus
America has been shaped by migration. Throughout its history, people have made their way to the self-styled ‘land of the free’ for a new life. For many, America has offered a life free from poverty, free from war, and free from the confines of the roots.
On Tuesday I went to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The first of these is home to the world’s largest green lady, a historical exhibition, and an abundance of gift shops. The second is home to America’s first federal immigration centre – now a museum of immigration.
The Ellis Island Immigration Museum first pays tribute to the people who were processed on the island before being allowed into America. To see first hand the condition these people, who came seeking a better life, endured was moving to say the least. The long lines we see at border security today are nothing compared to what awaited the millions of people who entered the United States through Ellis Island. A medical and legal examination stood between immigrants and their new home, and a wait on the island meant a night in a dormitory with 299 other people.
The second part of the exhibition looks at the changing face of immigration. This section, focused on the 20th and 21st century, gave an overview of the reasons why people pack up their lives and risk everything to move to another country. We all know that war and conflict are major reasons, as are persecution and disaster.
People immigrating today face the same hard decisions as people in the past; they leave behind family, friends and familiarity to embark on a journey as painful and perilous a whatever it is they are fleeing.
America’s east coast is no longer alone in its attractiveness to migrants and asylum seekers. Canada and Europe are also among the places people will risk their lives to call home.
The displays at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum reinforces the need for countries like the United States and the United Kingdom to look on migration sympathetically and form compassionate immigration policy.
We have a duty, I believe, to help those less fortunate than ourselves. I, and the vast majority of you, were lucky enough to be born in a community where our rights and freedoms as humans are respected. I would go as far as to say that we have a duty to act as ambassadors for those rights and freedoms, especially when people who are being denied them come asking for help.
This is not a time for countries to be insular and turn their back on the world, it is not a time for nations to run away from their responsibilities, and it is not a time to build walls (of the real or metaphoric variety).
This is a time for governments and countries to work together to solve the greatest problems facing our world today. And those problems include how to help those who need to leave their lives behind to find safety.
You can find out more about Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty National Memorial on the National Park Service website. If you’re ever in New York and would like to visit the statue, the museum and the islands the best way to get tickets is on the Statue Cruises website (they’re the official ferry service provider).
Peter Marcus 