Donald Trump's immigration chief in race row over poem on Statue of Liberty

Ken Cuccinelli's remark sparked an angry backlash from Democrats
AP
David Gardner14 August 2019

Donald Trump’s immigration chief sparked a new race storm today after claiming the iconic poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty welcoming migrants to America was referring to “people from Europe”.

“Well, of course that poem referred back to people coming from Europe where they had class-based societies,” said Ken Cuccinelli, the acting head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“Where people were considered wretched if they weren’t in the right class,” he added in an interview with CNN.

The remark sparked an angry backlash from Democrats who claimed it reinforced fears that the Trump White House favoured white immigrants over other ethnic groups.

“This administration finally admitted what we’ve known all along: They think the Statue of Liberty only applies to white people,” tweeted Democrat presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.

“The words on the Statue of Liberty won’t be changed at the racist whims of this administration — and neither will the character of this country,” he added.

The wording of the poem

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!” 

Democrat Senator Brian Schatz responded to Mr Cuccinelli’s comment by tweeting: “Looks like they had a meeting and decided to make racism the main theme of the re-elect.”

The Trump aide sparked controversy earlier yesterday by tweaking the words of the Statue of Liberty poem - The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus - to defend the administration’s unveiling on Monday of a “public charge” rule making it easier to deny green cards to legal immigrants who have either received benefits in the past or who are deemed likely to do so in the future.

“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!” reads the original 1883 poem, which is etched in bronze on the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal and has long been seen as a symbol of freedom and immigration.

Speaking to NPR yesterday, Mr Cuccinelli offered a revised version more in line with the Trump administration’s latest bid to try and curb the number of legal immigrants.

Asked whether the words of the poem remained “part of the American ethos,” the immigration chief replied: “They certainly are. Give me your tired and your poor — who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.”

The new row comes just weeks after Mr Trump sparked a furore by saying four female members of Congress should “go back” to their countries of origin, even though three of them were born in the US.

Last year, the president also sparked an angry backlash by referring to Haiti and African nations as “sh*thole countries” and reportedly said the US should have more people coming in from places like Norway.

Last night, Mr Trump defended the new “pubic charge” law, saying: 2I’m tired of seeing our taxpayer paying for people to come into the country and immediately go on to welfare and various other things.”

“I think we’re doing it right,” he said before making a speech last night at a Shell petrochemicals plant in Pittsburgh. “It’s about Americans first. It’s not fair to have the American taxpayer pay for people to come into the United States.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted the policy as “hateful” and “bigoted” and “a direct assault on our nation’s proud heritage as a beacon of hope and opportunity for all and a clear attempt to demonise and terrorise the newcomers who make America more American”.

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