I chose to set Emma Lazarus’ poem The New Colossus because it makes sacrosanct the principle that the United States of America has been and will always be a nation of immigrants, regardless of xenophobic political ideologies. The notion of condemning immigration is against the concept of liberty and the land of the free. In this setting, I chose to only set the last few lines, arguably the more famous part of the poem. The post-minimalistic approach of relentless pulse and repetition is interspersed with a warm, lush section of hope and welcome.