Golden Door In Tom Knudson's 'The New Colossus'

Essay 1: American Dreams What is the “golden door” (14) that Emma Lazarus refers to in her sonnet “The New Colossus”? To some, “golden door” may mean opportunity access to citizenship. To others, it might mean freedom, jobs, and safety. Historically, the “golden door” probably refers to the history of immigration laws that began to become more restrictive, culminating in the “golden door” shutting in 1882, effectively excluding Chinese immigrants, people seeking political asylum, anyone psychologically troubled as well as anyone considered intellectually challenged (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). Immigration continues to be citizenship issue, particularly for foreign-born workers described in Tom Knudson’s “The Pineros.” The question of whether “golden door” should be expanded to include freedom should be addressed to eliminate confusion. Therefore, “the golden door” must enlarge to create more opportunities for more people. Perhaps, the main reason why the golden door does apply to immigrants is that they have a purpose be here in life. As Knudson “Commutes of 100 miles a day are not unusual beginning before dawn.” (178). Immigrants should feel welcome and feel proud such as today. Furthermore, to understand how Lazarus’s phrase “golden door” relates to migrant workers working conditions, those words must be
“You just can’t afford that liability” (177). Or Zaharie could of have said it in a nice way or did not meant it like that. Just because immigrants can’t afford the liability they should still be able to be accept, when most immigrants are innocent. They’re not animals or dangerous people just looking for their equal rights that’s all and a way to provide themselves to live. America can be excellent if the economy is in good standing with people who are not citizenship. There is always that choice to give second chances to people because not everyone is