Those "two words" at U.S. border entry

Do we still mean it?

Excerpt: "I was worried it wouldn’t happen this time.

But it did. When I arrived back in the United States after a trip abroad, the immigration officer said to me, “welcome home.”

It’s such a small thing, really. Two words uttered casually by a government official doing his job. In the grand scheme of political upheaval, it hardly seems worth mentioning. And yet, those two words contain multitudes. They represent something profound about American identity that persists despite our best efforts to destroy it. The officer didn’t say “you may enter” or “proceed.” He said “welcome home.” This is what nations are made of."

Related: then there's those words upon our beaming statue in New York's harbor:

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"