It has not always been an easy journey
Since the mid-1800s , immigrants and refugees fleeing poverty and oppression in Europe , Asia , and Latin America often traveled to America fortified with little more than hope and tenacity . They were drawn by America ’ s promise .
Let us read together the immortal words of poet Emma Lazarus , which are imprinted upon the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor . A Sephardic Jew born in America in 1849 , Lazarus was the descendant of Jews who were forcibly expelled from Spain in 1492 . She understood more than many the importance of a safe harbor .
America , you great unfinished symphony , you sent for me . You let me make a difference , a place where even orphan immigrants can leave their fingerprints and rise up
HAMILTON : AN AMERICAN MUSICAL ( LYRICS BY LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA )
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