Emma Lazarus’ 1883 sonnet ‘The New Colossus’ was written in the same year that she established in New York the Society for the Improvement and Colonization of East European Jews; an organization designed to provide aid to refugees escaping antisemitic violence and rioting throughout the Russian Empire. Although short-lived the society showed her commitment to the cause of those less fortunate than herself.
Her poem, a paean to American openness to immigration, which is still displayed at the pedestal of the State of Liberty, appears now an ancient relic. The looming policy change on Medicaid eligibility for non-citizens only hammering home L.P. Hartley’s famous observation ‘the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.’
For, as was set out in H.R.1, aka the One Big Beautiful Bill, on October 1 non-citizens who fall into one of several categories will no longer be eligible for Medicaid. Those categories include the following: Parolees; Conditional Entrants ; Battered non-citizens; Refugees; Asylees; Amerasians; Deportees whose deportation is withheld; Victims of trafficking; and Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrants.
In Maryland that will amount to around 15,000 residents who will be without that healthcare coverage option. Those who are affected should by now have already been made aware of the change and given the small crumb of hope in the shape of emergency Medicaid. They can receive that form of the benefit if they meet all other Medicaid criteria and are experiencing a sudden health crisis, or if they are pregnant.
Whilst again the situation seems dire, perhaps we can also seek hope in another sonnet written some 200 years ago. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Ozymandias (Ozymandias | The Poetry Foundation) delivers 14 lines on the hubris of a long- forgotten tyrant.
You can read Maryland’s fact sheet here: Medicaid Changes for Noncitizens: Effective Oct. 1, 2026