March 29, 2024

Golden Doors

It seems like it’s hardly news anymore, but the President is back in the news again. No, this isn’t about Stephanie Clifford, nee Stormy Daniels, the star of “Good Will Humping” who collected $130,000 in hush money from Trump’s lawyer. She was smart enough to listen to Steve Miller when he sang “take the money and run.”

In the midst of paying off porn stars, the president might benefit from taking his own advice. After all, one of my father’s maxims was “a tight lip will get you no trouble,” which is probably advice Trump can use now that he’s making headlines worldwide for referring to Haiti and large parts of Africa as “shithole” countries. Trump said he’d like to see more people immigrate from places like Norway, but there’s little chance of that happening. The Chicago Tribune reported more people immigrated to Norway from the United States in 2016, instead of the other way around like the president is hoping. There’s not much to encourage Norwegians to pull up stakes and come to America, unless they’re in the market for warmer climate. Even if they move to Florida, studies show they’ll live longer in their native Norway than they will in the United States.

As easy as it might be to attack Trump for shooting his mouth off for the umpteenth time, there’s some validity in what he’s saying. Most of the places folks come from on their way to United States are pretty awful; that’s why they want to leave. Despite Natalie Maines urging most folks tend to stay pretty close to home, “living in the same zip codes as their parents,” unless there’s a compelling reason to get out of town.

We’re creatures of habit, and when we find someplace we like, we tend to stay there awhile. Unless of course, something happens, and then the immigration line looks like the deck of the Titanic about 30 minutes after the iceberg hit. It took a famine to get the Irish to leave Ireland, and if it wasn’t for religious persecution America would have been primarily settled by convicts. It’s not hard to imagine folks who are willing to leave families and homes for a fresh start in a strange world probably looked at their current surroundings and agreed with Trump’s assessment.

Even worse, you can’t throw a rock on a street corner these days without finding someone who thinks this country is a “shithole.” Which is why, more than ever, we need immigrants.

Last month I listened to U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-IA, address a group of high school students. Loebsack started off with his standard stump speech, something I’ve heard dozens of times before until he started to get more personal with the students. He told the group that Democracy only works when people believe it works. If you stop believing in the system, that’s when the country really starts to get into trouble, Loebsack said.

Immigrants from Haiti and Africa still believe in our political system, which is why we need them more than ever. Often, like the Cuban boat refugees, they’re risking their lives to make a fresh start in the United States. Trump is right, things are pretty bad where they’re coming from. Most of these immigrants will probably never get a chance to stand on Ellis Island and read the inscription on the base of the Statue of Liberty, but make no mistake, it was written for them.

“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!”

Contact David Dolmage
at ddolmage@newtondailynews.com