Monday Open Line


“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Poet Emma Lazarus composed those words in 1883 to help raise funds for a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. But on this date just a year earlier, Congress enacted one of the first immigration limitations in our history. The law barred entry to people thought likely to become what is called a “public charge” or burden on society. Immigration laws have been much revised since 1882 and remain a topic of great political contention to this day. Of the roughly 309 million residents counted in the 2010 Census of Population, nearly 40 million were foreign-born and another 40 million were naturalized citizens or noncitizen immigrants. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.