The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Ronald Eustice
During his farewell speech to the nation on Jan. 11, 1989, President Ronald Reagan described the United States as a “shining city upon a hill.'' Reagan built on the phrase preached by Puritan pilgrim John Winthrop in the earliest example of the idea of American exceptionalism. In 1630, while still aboard a ship bound for Massachusetts Bay, Winthrop delivered his sermon “A Model of Christian Charity.”
Reagan said, “I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still."
The origin of the phrase “shining city on the hill,” is found in Matthew 5:14-16
14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
As 2025 takes a curtain call, we must reflect on Reagan's farewell address and contrast his words with what we hear and read today.
While America has welcomed the immigrant from its earliest days, that vision has changed. ICE has been turned into a massive paramilitary organization with unconstrained powers. Anyone with an accent or who doesn't look "American" is subject to search.
Immigrants live in constant fear, afraid to go to work, send their children to school, attend religious services or even seek medical care. Some have lost legal status despite following all rules. Families are separated, and the deported are put in shackles and even sent to foreign countries where they have no roots or connection. Even naturalized citizens are at risk of deportation. Canadians and Europeans are asked to show electronic media history. One of my friends of Mexican birth who has lived here over 30 years, since she was a child, asked not to be photographed, risking a visit from ICE.
Today, the America First agenda welcomes white South Africans and Norwegians, but closes the doors to those with darker skin colors, especially the "garbage" from "s**thole" countries. At a recent rally in Phoenix, Vice President Vance, who converted to Catholicism, told thousands of young people that while “only God can promise you salvation in heaven” if they have faith in God, “I promise you closed borders and safe communities. I promise you good jobs and a dignified life … together, we can fulfil the promise of the greatest nation in the history of the earth.”
Next time the vice president attends Mass, I suggest he look around. He will see many immigrants and realise that without them and their families many pews would be empty.
This discussion is not about whether immigration is good or bad, legal or illegal; it is about closing the borders to all immigration. We are all sons and daughters of immigrants. Our immigrant ancestors dug the ditches, butchered the beef, picked the peaches, laid the shingles in searing heat, and built the railroad that linked the east with the west. They were called by various derogatory names; micks, spicks, chinks, wops, dagos, gooks and worse. When my ancestors arrived in the late 1840s from poverty-stricken Ireland, they were greeted by signs saying "Help Wanted: No Irish Need Apply." Immigrants faced severe discrimination and were promised neither good jobs or a dignified life. With hard work, pluck and persistence, they helped fulfill the promise of making this the greatest nation in the history of the earth. Fortunately, Donald Trump wasn't there to deport them.
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