Letter: Immigration policies need to reflect America’s history

To the editor:

At the dawn of the 20th century, the scenes of thousands of immigrants flooding the turnstiles at Ellis Island perhaps best personifies the meaning of the American dream.

These individuals, without a second thought, risked their lives and their fortunes for just a mere chance of making it to this legendary beacon of freedom called America. Amongst these masses were undoubtedly future doctors, lawyers, servicemen and individuals that would later become the idealized “American.”

Our gates then were wide open, and certainly in hindsight these individuals were America’s gain. Yet as we stand a century later our gates our still open, but our citizens and government have created new issues of racism and have instituted legislation against immigrants that has failed.

My fellow Americans, it is time to re-examine our stance on immigration and begin to institute changes that both echo our principles and are practical.

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