The U.S. is no longer the welcoming society that the Statue of Liberty describes in its inscription.

Regarding “Under Trump, SFO is now a de facto immigration detention center” (Politics, SFChronicle.com, Sept. 2): Congratulations on reminding us of the importance of investigative journalism by uncovering the stunningly inhumane treatment of foreign travelers by the government of the United States at our airports.

That the federal government uses San Francisco International Airport and other international airports as de facto detention centers and jails to confine people, most of whom have green cards, without access to medical care, counsel and basic health and safety that most of us take for granted, is heartbreaking.

The reporting lays bare how federal agencies ignore due process and basic human rights in service of Donald Trump’s and Stephen Miller’s quest to sweep away as many immigrants as possible. These racist policies — they overwhelmingly target people of color — do not make the country safer. Native born citizens are responsible for most crimes in America, not demonized non-citizens.

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The Statue of Liberty inscription, “The New Colossus,” written in 1883, welcomed the “tired, … poor (and) huddled masses........

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