The Statue of Liberty reads:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“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!”

                                                  – Emma Lazarus

Although Lady Liberty welcomes immigrants near and far, with the executive order: protecting the nation from foreign terrorists entry into the united states, also known as the “Muslim Ban,” and president Donald Trump’s decision to do away with DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, it seems a movement to stop people from immigrating to the United States has begun.

To see if the anti-immigrant actions truly define the thoughts and feelings of Americans, college students were interviewed and asked a couple of questions regarding the topic.

Below are the thoughts and opinions of college students about immigration

(They were asked to answer the following questions)

How would you describe an immigrant?

What is the difference between an immigrant and a refugee?

Why do you believe people choose to immigrate to the United States?

Do you believe these people coming in affect the United States in any way?

How would you describe an immigrant?

(Listen to each student answer these questions)

Henry William Jones, Informatics major at Texas Woman’s University

He originates from the United States

Saran Kaba Diakité, Chemical Engineer major at the University of Southern California

She originates from the Côte d’Ivoire, Ivory Coast

Maha Naveed, Senior Biology major at Southern Methodist University

She originates from Pakistan

Taking an even closer look at immigration, an immigrant and current college student shares her experience and perspective.

Melissa Mapa, an immigrant to the United States, shares how she moved from Zimbabwe to Ireland to the United States.

Born May 1, 1995, Melissa Mapa lived in Zimbabwe until she was seven years old. Her father decided to move his entire family to Dublin, Ireland because the situation in Zimbabwe had worsened, Mapa said.

She said her father’s choice was influenced by his brother, who lived in Dublin and had settled with his family there.

After living in Dublin for more than twelve years, Mapa said she considers Ireland her home.

“I loved it [Ireland]. I’d consider it more home than Zimbabwe because I left Zimbabwe when I was seven and I did the majority of my growing up in Ireland,” Mapa said, “So, it’s what I consider home.”

Wanting their children to receive an education in “the land of opportunity”, Mapa’s parents moved Melissa and her younger brother, Martin, to Texas. Once in Texas they joined their two older sisters, who had attended college and established their own families in the city of Arlington, Mapa said.

Although she was encouraged to move to the United States by her parents, it was hard to leave Ireland, Mapa said.

Her definition of “land of opportunity” for the United States differed a bit from her parents, she said.

“I agree to a certain extent [that the United States is the land of opportunity],” Mapa said, “Here [ in the United States], there are so many opportunities in education, so many roads to go down through. So in that aspect, it is the land of opportunities.”

In Ireland a students career is based on a point system. Based on the points she acquired by the end of high school, she would have probably ended being an accountant, Mapa said.

Mapa has now resided in Arlington, Texas for two and a half years. She recently graduated from Tarrant County College with her Associate’s of Arts. Mapa is now attending the University of Texas at Arlington and is excited to soon acquire a Bachelor’s in Bachelor’s in Kinesiology.

“I’m actually hoping to do Occupational Therapy, so right now I’m at UTA and I am doing [majoring] in Kinesiology,” Mapa said,”Hopefully I will be off to Texas Woman’s where I am thinking of doing my graduate program for occupational therapy.”

Her words still define many

It seems that the poem Lazarus wrote still defines many although recent actions may say other wise, the millennials of America seem to share one idea: that the United States is enriched with culture, traditions, and world views when immigrants move to the Unites States. Immigration. many times, is a word followed by a negative connotation, but in reality it is a word that describes many and all.