Opera. Not everyone’s favorite idea of entertainment, but its imagery is prevalent today.

Italian opera writer, Gian Carlo Menotti, wrote one of his most famous opera pieces, "The Consul," in 1950. His work in "The Consul" was written as a response to the issues of immigration and the bureaucratic systems in place during World War II that inhibited refugees from leaving their countries.

Menotti’s story focuses on Magda Sorel and the struggles she encounters. As her husband flees to the border of another country to avoid capture by the secret police, Magda attempts to obtain a visa for her family by visiting the Consulate. The mother desperately begs for her visa to be granted so that she can rejoin her husband, but she is met with little empathy. In the office of the Consulate, Magda realizes the barriers of the bureaucratic system and how, to others, her name is only a number. Months past as Magda’s hopes die, along with her family. With nothing left, she sees no other path left except to end her life.

Writer Menotti created the chilling tragedy of "The Consul" to take place in an unidentified country at an unknown period of time. This openness to interpretation allows Menotti’s opera of the Sorel family’s experience to be more easily seen as relevant to today’s issues.

The rise of extreme nationalist rhetoric in modern-day America displays the demand for reform in border control. In 2017 and moving forward in 2018, legislation hopes to establish an even stricter cap on immigration refugees. Early this year, administration officials moved to reevaluate the refugee settlement program after rejecting a study proving the positive impact of refugees, such as filling unwanted jobs and increasing government revenue by paying more in taxes than what they use in public benefits.

In the United States’ past, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is an example of legislation restricting immigration by targeting an ethnic group that supposedly posed a threat to the order of labor and “purity” of the white race. Even after this law was repealed, it continued to affect legislation and enforcement, as it had given legitimacy to laws based on bureaucracy.

The undefined setting of Menotti’s opera, "The Consul," provides insight for the unseen effects of immigration acts that were and are to come. Just like Magda Sorel, there are many displaced people searching for new homes and a new start. For others, relocation is the only option for survival. The addition of immigration barriers will encroach upon the needs and individual rights of others. The imagery for today’s issues that the opera provides opens doors to different perspectives that should be taken into consideration before future actions are carried out, for Magda Sorel’s last breath is a warning of the dangers immigration acts pose.