Do unto others as you want done to you
- Matilda Ziegler
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
One of the many factors that makes America uniquely beautiful is its high percentage of immigrants. A Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data found that, as of June 2025, 51.9 million immigrants lived in the U.S, and 15.4% of all U.S. residents were immigrants.
According to a 2024 report issued by the National Institute of Justice, An NIJ-funded study examining data from the Texas Department of Public Safety estimated the rate at which immigrants are arrested for committing crimes, finding that even undocumented immigrants “are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S. citizens for violent and drug crimes, and a quarter the rate of native-born citizens for property crimes.”
The U.S. has a relatively high population of immigrants compared to other nations, and immigration is a large part of our history. Many Americans trace their heritage back to immigrants that came to this country via Ellis Island, and immigration has long been celebrated in history textbooks and quintessential American culture alike.
Many other Americans trace their heritage to immigrants who came to the U.S. from Latin America in recent years. Immigrants not only provide value to U.S. society because they commit less crime, but also because they actively want to be American. Immigrants actively choose to be American- and I believe this is something to be commended. They uproot their entire lives to move here, often crossing oceans and deserts in search of the “American Dream."
In her famous poem “The New Colossus", Emma Lazurus writes,
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
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!"
We should welcome the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning for American freedom and the American Dream. We should welcome the homeless, the tempest-tost and, like the Statue of Liberty, lift our lamps in welcome to immigrants.
If you, like most immigrants, are Chirstian, look at how the Bible exhorts us not only to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty and to clothe the naked, but also to welcome the stranger, the immigrant and the tempest-tost.
Matthew 25:36-45 (NIV) states,
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
The passage continues by saying the righteous will answer him.
“Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
Finally, the people will answer, and say, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
Do what Jesus commands in the Gospel of Matthew: lift your lamp beside America’s golden door and welcome the stranger. Do for the least of these, the tempest-tost, what you would want done unto you, and what you would want to be done to God.
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