In Trump's America, The Statue Of Liberty Is Closed While Immigrants Are Pushed Out

Sebastian Murdock
Updated

President Donald Trump is likely not enjoying his anniversary of being sworn in. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country are attending this year’s Women’s March to protest his administration. His approval ratings are in the tank. And oh, the government has shut down.

Though nothing quite illustrates the dysfunction and vitriol of this administration as much as the Statue of Liberty ― a shining beacon for immigrants and America’s traditional values ― being closed on Saturday as part of the government shutdown.

In the last year, Trump has turned his back on the ideals Americans often espouse. The president attempted to block the passage of people from Muslim-majority countries from coming into the U.S. (he failed). He wants to build a stupidly expensive, unnecessary wall to keep out Mexicans and Central Americans. And under Trump, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ramped up its efforts to kick out immigrants who have spent the vast majority of their lives here.

It gets worse.

A crescent moon sets behind the Statue of Liberty on Jan. 19, 2018 in New York City. (Photo: Gary Hershorn via Getty Images)
A crescent moon sets behind the Statue of Liberty on Jan. 19, 2018 in New York City. (Photo: Gary Hershorn via Getty Images)

Just this month, Trump reportedly described Haiti and African countries as “shithole countries” in a closed Oval Office meeting. He instead suggested the U.S. bring in immigrants from nations like Norway.

But nothing quite shows the disdain he has for immigrants in this nation like his handling of Dreamers, unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and who know no other home. Last September, Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), originally put in place by former President Barack Obama, which protected these young immigrants from deportation.

Democratic lawmakers have made it clear that they won’t support the policy many say is racist. Republican U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, used immigrant lives as a bargaining chip for the government shutdown, which occurred after Congress was unable to reach a budget agreement by midnight on Friday.

Trump, in all his “stable genius,” has passed the blame off on Democrats for the shutdown that has also led to the closure of Lady Liberty. It is the first time in the history of this country that a government shutdown has happened despite the House, Senate, and White House all being under the control of one party.

The Statue of Liberty last made national headlines after White House aide Stephen Miller said in August that the poem inscribed on the statue, “New Colossus,” had no significance because it was added later.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” the poem reads. “The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

For now, Lady Liberty’s doors are closed. And until this administration recognizes the noble belief that this is a country for all, perhaps those doors should remain closed.

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April 2015

At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”
At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”

June 2015

At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

August 2015

On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 
On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 

September 2015

On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”
On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”

November 2015

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 
On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 

February 2016

At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”
At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”

March 2016

At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”
At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”

April 2016

At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”
At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”

July 2016

At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied ― and every politician who has denied them ― to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced."

September 2016

At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”
At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”

September 2016

On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”
On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.