An Open Letter to Lady Liberty

Dear Lady Liberty,

First, just let me say that I am fond of you and what you stand for. Secure and steadfast are you. It doesn’t matter the weather, the season or the mood of the nation. You are there to remind everyone that you are watching out for them and that you have their back. Actually, I think at first you were there to welcome folks to America, to refuge and respite and the promise of hope and new beginnings.

The thing is, this wistful affection is slipping away. Quickly.

I’ve been to New York, albeit it briefly and didn’t get a chance to see you. Next time, hopefully. I probably wouldn’t be writing this letter but for some things about your country that worry me. Well, no point in scuffling here, I think America is sick. As sick, or worse, as some of the places from which people fled to come to your shores in the first place.

The never-ending imbroglio on your southern border is for your citizens and elected leaders a political maelstrom and a cause célèbre for public figures. The plain truth is this; it is, more than anything else a humanitarian crisis but internally your people have made it a power struggle between political parties and…