--- description: Game of Thrones scribe George R.R. Martin voiced his support for Syrian refugees coming to America in an online posting title: George R.R. Martin on Syrian Refugees: 'Let Them In' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb85cac445d23fb1f/698872595f570f1465b1e7a6/george-r-r-martin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Refugees](/tag/refugees/) ## Refugees Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # George R.R. Martin on Syrian Refugees: 'Let Them In' by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 22, 2015 4:25 PM CUT  George R.R. Martin attends the "Game of Thrones" Season 5 Premiere at the San Francisco Opera House on March 23, 2015. George R.R. Martin attends the "Game of Thrones" Season 5 Premiere at the San Francisco Opera House on March 23, 2015.Jeff Kravitz—HBO/Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 22, 2015 4:25 PM CUT _Game of Thrones_ scribe George R.R. Martin voiced his support for Syrian refugees coming to America in an [online posting](http://grrm.livejournal.com/455639.html "undefined"). In the Livejournal post, Martin quotes the words of Emma Lazarus, whose poem appears on the base of the Statue of Liberty, including, as Martin notes, “”Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” “For me, Lady Liberty and the words on her base represent the best of what this nation of immigrants is all about,” Martin writes. “One has to wonder if all the governors (including our own governor here in New Mexico, I am ashamed to say) and congressmen voting to keep out the Syrian refugees have ever visited the Statue, or read the words on her base. If so, they surely failed to understand them.” He continues, arguing, “Emma Lazarus had it right. Donald Trump and thirty-one governors have it wrong, wrong, wrong. The Syrian refugees are as much victims of ISIS as the dead in France. Let them in. Santa Fe, at least, will welcome them.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4123634/george-r-r-martin-refugees/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4123634/george-r-r-martin-refugees/"},"headline":"George R.R. Martin on Syrian Refugees: 'Let Them In'","datePublished":"2015-11-22T16:25:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:49:57.212Z","description":"He says politicians including Donald Trump have it \"wrong, wrong, wrong.\"","url":"https://time.com/4123634/george-r-r-martin-refugees/","keywords":["Refugees"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb85cac445d23fb1f/698872595f570f1465b1e7a6/george-r-r-martin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb85cac445d23fb1f/698872595f570f1465b1e7a6/george-r-r-martin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"HBO's \"Game Of Thrones\" Season 5 Premiere And After Party","caption":"HBO's \"Game Of Thrones\" Season 5 Premiere And After Party","creditText":"Jeff Kravitz—HBO/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/refugees/","name":"Refugees"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4123634/george-r-r-martin-refugees/","name":"George R.R. Martin on Syrian Refugees: 'Let Them In'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Politicians React to U.S. Policy on Syrian Refugees","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xRGMbKjA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-11-17T23:15:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xRGMbKjA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4123634/george-r-r-martin-refugees/","duration":"PT1M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4123634/george-r-r-martin-refugees/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```