When we were kids, we formed our image of what America stands for.

I was always taught, you see, that this was the land of opportunity. Conservatives and liberals alike espoused the idea of the American Dream. It was evident from these individuals that across party lines, we wanted to see ourselves as the land of hope, of opportunity.

Our country, I learned, is the great melting pot (an old colloquialism that has now gone out of date), willing to take anyone that was prepared to love the ideals of this land. To quote the words of Emma Lazarus, whose poem "The New Colossus" we know better as the "Statue of Liberty poem," we are a nation willing to take "the poor, the sick and the huddled masses."

We've claimed to be that, and often fallen far short. For example, we took the lead worldwide on accepting immigrants escaping the Holocaust, but still turned away thousands trying to escape one of the worst genocides in world history. We also set an immigration quota a little over a century ago that limited the amount of immigrants allowed into the country, a law that lasted over 50 years. It could be argued that economic opportunity in this country is not as great as we thought it was when we were kids. And we gained notoriety for our treatment of those who came from elsewhere, such as the horrific internment of Japanese Americans in World War II.

But until now, I would argue, we have strived to at least appear on our face as the nation with open arms.

Donald J. Trump seems to have no such concern. Our President, sources on both sides of the aisle have confirmed, referred to countries in Africa as well as the nation of Haiti as "sh*thole countries" in making his case for why we should disallow immigrants from those nations.

His argument seems to be simple – where you are from can entirely disqualify you from a chance to start a new life in America. Regardless of whether you are seeking to escape persecution or make a path for yourself, in Trump's America there seems to be no place for someone from a third world nation. Essentially, one might imagine that beyond the bad optics/poor choice of words, the President is contending that unless you have something to offer, you should not be allowed to come here and live.

There are two problems, though, with Trump's massive overgeneralization. First of all, there are people with spectacular skills that come from third world countries, or sh*tholes, as he refers to them. When I went to the African nation of Kenya, I met more bilingual and trilingual individuals on my first day there than I've met in my entire life in America. I encountered national pride, strong work ethic, high intelligence, and ambition at every turn.

Were there problems? Of course! There were issues with governmental corruption of which the people were well aware, and of which many had very little control over. To Trump, however, it seems that third world nations struggle because every single person is substandard.

Suppose we even granted him that. Suppose that we accepted the ridiculous, likely racist assumption that every person from these beautiful "sh*thole" countries is of below average ability. Should we disallow them then?

Not at all, if we believe in the American Dream! Not at all, if we still believe in the words of Lazarus' poem:

"Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

The America I idealized, the America I still seek today, it has no test for entry beyond asking people for their effort in upholding the ideals upon which it was founded – that all are created equal. That America sees individuals that are battered and beaten, from the worst possible circumstances, who see and want to take the opportunity they can find in our nation, and it welcomes them in.

Make no mistake – the words of the President matter. Even if our immigration policies don't change to the level Trump is seeking, he has already recast the global image of America. No longer are we the image that a friend of mine I met abroad once shared, Lady Liberty welcoming in the eager stranger; the President is the bears the image of America to the world, and those who might have once wanted to become Americans now see only a turned back shouting vile remarks about their unworthiness.

Trump never understood what made America great. Now, he stands poised to strip it of it's majesty in a shameful display of elitism.