“Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” These words form “The New Colossus,” an 1883 sonnet by Emma Lazarus. They are inscribed upon the Statue of Liberty and perhaps best encapsulate the mythology by which America has defined itself. 

The U.S. has long hailed itself as a “nation of immigrants.” The cultural melting pot has been a touchstone of the American Dream and national identity. However, it has also remained a cornerstone of political debate and, in more recent years, has become a deeply partisan issue. This grows more evident following Trump’s flurry of executive orders, many coming under the flag of his “America First” agenda.

The implications of these executive orders are vast: ending asylum, closing legal pathways, mass deportations, redefining immigration, and expanding the domestic use of the U.S. military. However, as outlandish as these orders may sound, the sentiment that inspired them is not new. The U.S. is no stranger to xenophobia or anti-immigrant attitudes, but it’s necessary to understand where they come from. 

Current policy trends can be traced back to post-World War isolationism, but their most recent resurgence took place in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Pat Buchanan, a conservative political commentator, is often credited with the revival of “America First” rhetoric. He advocated for nationalism, stricter immigration, protectionist trade policy, and opposed foreign intervention. He would even go as far as to say, “Nowhere on this earth can one find a multicultural, multiethnic, multilingual nation that is not at risk. Democracy is not enough. Equality is not enough.” 

By 2016, many of these ideas would cement themselves into the Republican Party when Trump ran under the “America First” banner. Again, he promoted economic protectionism, nationalism, and restricted immigration. 

It is important to note that these were not mainstream beliefs, but quite the opposite. Prior to the 90’s, both parties had held relatively positive views of immigrants. It was Buchanan who reframed immigration as an attack on American tradition and values, warning against the destruction of the national identity. This flew in the face of even conservative sentiments. Only a few years prior, Reagan had declared “Our nation is a nation of immigrants. More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage and our capacity to welcome those from other lands.” 

In all of this there is a strange irony. The “America First” agenda, Buchanan, and now Trump all pride themselves on their protection of the “American way,” tradition, and national identity. However, when one examines the American dream, what they find is the capacity for change and difference. In a so-called effort to protect national identity, they have instead radicalized and redefined it. 

Now, these once fringe beliefs have become a dominant force in the new administration. Trump’s executive orders have suspended the entry of undocumented migrants, under any circumstances, including asylum. Another order cancelled CBP One, an app that allowed asylum seekers to make appointments at U.S. border ports of entry. Another, already infamous order, would undo birthright citizenship, as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, had it not been temporarily blocked by a federal judge. Without any practical pathways left, migrants will be forced to turn to more dangerous methods: swimming the Rio Grande, climbing the border wall, crossing the desert, etc. 

Other executive orders are using legal and constitutional loopholes to redefine migrants and asylum seekers as an “invasion.” This circumvents the otherwise illegal act of banning access to the U.S.-Mexico border. By this logic, the government could suspend habeas corpus according to the Suspension Clause. Under the same pretexts, a “national emergency” is being declared at the border. WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America) fears this could, in theory, allow the new administration to “deploy soldiers not just against migrants, but against U.S. citizens participating in political protests.”

Along with these orders comes the promise of mass deportations. Officials within the Trump administration have suggested the deportations will begin with migrants who have criminal records. Then they will go after the broader undocumented population, which, according to WOLA, “could be as many as 13 million people (over 3 percent of the U.S. population).” Administrators are promising “shock and awe” ICE raids in major U.S. cities. With mass deportations, many human rights organizations fear “serious human rights and due process violations” and spending that could reach up to “$88 billion per year.” 

These orders are not simply part of the political tug of war between globalism and nationalism or Republicans and Democrats, they represent a fundamental transformation of how the country defines itself. That is not to say that in the past, America has always been a haven for immigrants or that it has been easy—but it seemed that it was striving to be more. It will now be left to the new America to decide whether the “New Colossus” remains true or if it will become a relic of a bygone age.

Information obtained from the Council on Foreign Relations, Pew Research Center, SPLC, and WOLA.