No, the America of the past was not as welcoming as the poem on the base of the Statue of Liberty seemed to say it was. While the poem speaks of a land of opportunity, free of prejudice and open to all who seek a better life, the reality was that many immigrants were met with discrimination and xenophobia. For example, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned Chinese immigrants from entering the US, and there were similar laws targeting other immigrant groups.