I pulled together my list of favorite songs about immigrants and refugees, shared it with some friends, got additional titles, for this chart of 26 songs (in no particular order). —Ken Sehested
• “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,” Irving Berlin, using lyrics from Emma Lazarus’ poem, performed by The Zamir Chorale
• “City of Immigrants,” Steve Earle
• “El Coyote,” Guy Clark
• “Matamoros Banks,” Bruce Springsteen
• “The House You Live In,” Gordon Lightfoot
• “Moving (Songs for Refugees),” Refugees Welcome
• “I Am a Stranger,” Ken Medema
• “The Refugee,” U2
• “Clandestino,” Manu Ahao, [English translation: “I come only with my punishment / There comes only my conviction / Running is my fate / In order to deceive the law / Lost in the heart / Of the great Babylon / They call me the Clandestine / 'cause I don't carry any identity papers.”
• “Todos Somos Ilegales (We Are All Illegals),” Residente, Tom Morello & Chad Smith
• “American Oxygen,” Rihanna
• “Without a Face,” Rage Against the Machine
• “Ice El Hielo,” La Santa Cecilia [English translation: ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is loose over those streets. / We never know when we will be hit. (*alt. We never know when it will be our turn.) / They cry, the children cry at the doorway, / They cry when they see that their mother will not come back.]
• “Song of the Syrian Refugees,” Abu & Mohamad
•”You’re Not Alone, Syria,” featuring Abdullah Rolle, Faisal Salah, Omar Esa, Khaleel Muhammad, Hassen Rasool, Muslim Belal, Abdul Wahab (aka UK Apache), Umar Salaams and Masikah
• “Tala' al-Badru Alayna (The Moon Has Shone His Light To Us)” Canadian children’s choir singing the oldest known Islamic song, which was sung by Prophet Muhammad's companions to welcome him as he sought refuge in Medina
• “America,” Neil Diamond
• “Immigration Man,” Crosby & Nash
• “Immigrants,” Leslie Lee & Steve Gretz
• “Look In Their Eyes,” David Crosby
• “Refugee Immigrant Song,” Jack Warshaw
• “Lady of the Harbor,” Brother Sun
• “Lady of the Harbor,” Si Kahn
• “Good Night, New York,” Nanci Griffith
• “Running (Refugee Song),” Gregory Porter, Common, Kenyon Harrold & Andrea Pizziconi
• “The Prayer of the Refugee,” Rise Against