I Lift My Lamp

They didn't break the law. That shouldn't matter
Since they're still human, and we ought to care
About them all. But kindness tends to shatter
When pressed too hard, as we forget what's fair
And fall back on what's easy. Either way
They had the right to come, the right to flee,
The right to seek a future from today
(The same right we declared so holily
Two hundred years ago). They did no wrong.
We did. We do. And we continue to.
If we're a country where they don't belong
We need to change, to pledge ourselves anew
To our ideals, which we have failed before.
That's no excuse: we must and can do more.