The New Colossus, or Is It Too Late to Edit the Statue of Liberty?

[fightingquaker13]

I started a silly iguana/ammnesty program thread out of a sense of amusement at the wierdness that is the Florida Keys combined with a general frustration over iguanas and illegal immigration. The original thread is: "Quaker's ammnesty policy. Thoughts?"
It was all fun and games until Operator replied thusly:
"FQ I know that it is tongue in cheek, but how about 1,000 iguana heads and learning English, and wanting to live here, because its the best,"

Al of a sudden, it was less a joking matter and one for thought, as I heartily agree. It got me to thinking about the words written by Emma Lazarus in 1883 from the poem "The New Colossus" the last  (edited) verses of which are written on the Statue of Liberty. We asked for:
With silent lips. "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!"

Well, that's what we are getting now. Maybe instead, we should edit that and instead write in a version of the Marine Corps recruiting slogan.
"We are looking for a few good men and women. The rest of you can look elsewhere."

Less inspiring, but a lot more practical. I'm actually semi-serious here, at least in terms of the spirit of the thing. This is because now, far too many folks here and abroad think Lazarus' words are some sort of entry pass that gives them a right to be here and us an obligation to accept them. I never voted for Lazarus. Thoughts? 
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

What part of illegal do you not understand ?
We have rules put in place by Congress, as specified in the Constitution, to deal with immagrants who are willing to follow the rules. All the others should be deported, killed, or sold into slavery to offset the drain on our economy .
As for the Statue, it's NY, it should say "What the f#ck are you looking at ? "

[Big Frank]

The huddled masses should go to France where the statue was made.

[Fatman]

The huddled masses should go to France where the statue was made.

NY has become France.

[tombogan03884]

NY has become France.

With out fancy food. (Although , like Ca. the wines and cheeses are OK. )

[Sponsor]

[Solus]

All four of my Grandparents immigrated to the US as children.

Frank Barbanara from Italy, John Kuh from the then Austria-Hungary, Nellie Burke from Ireland and Hedwig Kazora from Poland.

My mother's father, John Kuh arrived here in 1905 at the age of five.  He told me of his memories of coming here.  They were looking for a better life.  The were able to only take very little...suitcases of clothes and valuables that were able to be packed in the suitcases, virtually nothing.

They were told they didn't need to take anything more because the Streets in America are Paved with Gold and they could just pick up a few cobble stones and be set.

He talked of the disappointment they had when they discovered they were lied to, but they had nothing back there and here they had a chance for a better life.

He only went as far as the 5th grade in school but worked hard.  He was a supervisor at a large bakery in Chicago.  He owned two houses when he died.  One the family lived in and in which I was born, and one across the street that they rented.

He never became a citizen, which did not sit well with my grandmother, Hedwig Kazora, who had become a citizen.  She lost her citizenship when she married my grandfather.  I think he never tried for citizenship because he was embarrassed by his limited education and ability to read and write.

He loved this country and was as loyal as any natural born citizen.

All of my grandparents were part of the 'Huddled Masses".  The difference between then and now is that then they knew it was up to them to work for what this country had to offer....the unlimited opportunity afforded here was the Gold Lining the Streets that they had  heard about.

Far to many of today's "Huddled Masses" are here for the 'Free Lunch" and don't do what is necessary to come here legally.

We need to eliminate the "Free Lunch", keep illegals out and send back those who are here, and I hope we will always welcome the "huddled masses" who come here legally for the opportunity to work for a better life.

[Hazcat]

All four of my Grandparents immigrated to the US as children.

Frank Barbanara from Italy, John Kuh from the then Austria-Hungary, Nellie Burke from Ireland and Hedwig Kazora from Poland.

My mother's father, John Kuh arrived here in 1905 at the age of five.  He told me of his memories of coming here.  They were looking for a better life.  The were able to only take very little...suitcases of clothes and valuables that were able to be packed in the suitcases, virtually nothing.

They were told they didn't need to take anything more because the Streets in America are Paved with Gold and they could just pick up a few cobble stones and be set.

He talked of the disappointment they had when they discovered they were lied to, but they had nothing back there and here they had a chance for a better life.

He only went as far as the 5th grade in school but worked hard.  He was a supervisor at a large bakery in Chicago.  He owned two houses when he died.  One the family lived in and in which I was born, and one across the street that they rented.

He never became a citizen, which did not sit well with my grandmother, Hedwig Kazora, who had become a citizen.  She lost her citizenship when she married my grandfather.  I think he never tried for citizenship because he was embarrassed by his limited education and ability to read and write.

He loved this country and was as loyal as any natural born citizen.

All of my grandparents were part of the 'Huddled Masses".  The difference between then and now is that then they knew it was up to them to work for what this country had to offer....the unlimited opportunity afforded here was the Gold Lining the Streets that they had  heard about.

Far to many of today's "Huddled Masses" are here for the 'Free Lunch" and don't do what is necessary to come here legally.

We need to eliminate the "Free Lunch", keep illegals out and send back those who are here, and I hope we will always welcome the "huddled masses" who come here legally for the opportunity to work for a better life.

NOT doubting you, Solus but I have never heard of this.  How does it work?

[Solus]

NOT doubting you, Solus but I have never heard of this.  How does it work?

Don't know.  I never asked.   Just assumed that was the "rule" ....you marry a resident alien and you lose your citizenship.

I will check on it and see what I can find.

[Hazcat]

Just seems odd.  I assume yer Grandma was a naturalized citizen then she married your Grandpa a legal resident alien.  Why should she lose her citizenship?

Just strange to me.

[Solus]

Just seems odd.  I assume yer Grandma was a naturalized citizen then she married your Grandpa a legal resident alien.  Why should she lose her citizenship?

Just strange to me.

Did some research and although I can't really say I understand the situation...which looks like it might take a Doctorate in immigration law to sift through all the verbiage.....it seems that for a period before  Sept 22, 1922 it was possible for a woman citizen to lose her citizenship by marrying an alien.   It also seems that provisions were made for reinstatement later.  Maybe my Grandmother wasn't aware of that or she decided she liked blaming my Grandfather more.

Below are some references I copied that indicate lose of citizenship was possible ...Note it only applied to women who married an alien.


(c)  Oath of allegiance
(1) A woman who was a citizen of the United States at birth and
(A) who has or is believed to have lost her United States citizenship solely by reason of her marriage prior to September 22, 1922, to an alien, or by her marriage on or after such date to an alien ineligible to citizenship,

(a)   Before Afroyim v. Rusk   .  (1)   Prior to March 2, 1907   . Current section 324 provides for the repatriation or naturalization of women who underwent expatriation because they married aliens or married citizens who subsequently expatriated themselves by naturalization in a foreign state during the existence of the marital status.

(2)   March 2, 1907, through September 21, 1922   . Except during World War I,   8/    any marriage of a citizen or noncitizen national   9/    woman to an alien which occurred during the period from March 2, 1907, to September 21, 1922, both dates inclusive, effected loss of nationality,   10/    regardless of the parties' residence,   11/    the minority of the citizen women,   12/    the manner in which she had acquired citizenship,   13/    and even if the laws of the husband's country did not confer his nationality upon her as a result of the marriage.